Collide
by rizzles-4-lyf
Summary: AU - Detective Rizzoli meets medical student Maura Isles in a lonely coffee shop after solving a hard case. When Maura gets a job at BPD and her mob family finds out about it; all hell breaks lose! Will Jane and Mauras friendship survive? Will their friendship turn into something more? Only one way to find out...
1. Chapter 1

_**Completely AU! Definitely going to be a new long term story! Please review! **_

**Janes POV  
**Nothing in this world makes me happier than 24 hour coffee shops. Nothing.  
It had been one of the longest weeks I've worked, and this was the moment I was looking forward to all week long. Sitting alone in the back corner booth in my favourite coffee shop, I prayed no one would try and engage in conversation with me. Of course I was not destined to be that lucky.

"Hi." A sickly sweet womans voice sounded from beside me, snapping me out of my own thoughts. I wasn't surprised at her appearance when I looked up at her. Her blonde, curly hair fell just below her shoulders, and she was wearing a light shade of red lipstick. She wore a tight blue dress that gripped to all of her curves and if she hadn't been wearing an apron; there is no way I would have guessed she worked at a coffee shop. "Are you okay?" She asked, a look of genuine concern crossing her face as she took a seat across from me in the small booth; without invitation.

"My coffee is taking a _really _long time." I pointed out, looking across at her with wide eyes; hoping she'd take the hint and go and get my coffee. Just as I finished my sentence, another woman came and placed the warm mug of coffee in front of me, not saying a word as she turned and walked away. "Can I help you with something?" I asked the petite blonde woman who merely smiled across at me as I spoke to her.

"I'm the one who works here; shouldn't I be asking you that question?" I couldn't help but chuckle as I nodded along to her words. "I'm Maura." She added, extending a hand across the table. I took her soft hand in my own and could only imagine how rigid and rough my hand must have felt to her.

"Jane." I responded as I removed my hand, picking up the mug before me and cradling it between my two hands.

"Do you mind if I ask what you do for a living?" She asked as she removed her apron, sighing quietly as she placed it on the table in front of her, looking back to me expectantly. I hated telling people about my job; I always got the same excited, interested response and after the week I had just had; I did not have the energy. Still, I answered honestly.

"I'm a homicide detective." I told her, instinctively opening my faux leather jacket to reveal my badge to her. She pursed her lips and nodded slowly, her eyes not lingering on my gun or badge the way most peoples did.

"I'm about to finish medical school." She told me, taking me completely by surprise. She must have noticed my wide eyes and surprised expression as she continued. "I'm a little…" She stopped, frowning momentarily before a small smile came back onto her disgustingly beautiful face. "I want to be a medical examiner."

"You should apply at BPD." My words left my mouth before I had even realised what I was saying. "I mean; I hate the M.E we have at the moment." I frowned down into my cup as I took another sip.

"I work here because I'm scared of live people." I was slightly confused as to where this conversation was headed. This seemed like a far too intimate conversation for two strangers in a quiet, cold coffee shop.

"You don't seem scared of me." I noted, looking her in the eye for the first time. That's when I saw it; the fear. The second we made eye contact, she relocated her gaze to the wall behind my head. "You don't need to be scared of me." I re-worded my earlier sentence and tried, without actually doing so, to look away from her eyes. They were the lightest shade of emerald green I had ever seen. Who was this woman?

"I should go." She said, looking back into my eyes with a small smile on her lips as she reached for her apron, and I instinctively reached forward and captured her hand in my own. Her eyes widened slightly as she moved her gaze back up to mine; her eyes silently connecting with mine; neither of us saying a word as my thumb lightly traced a pattern across the back of her hand.

"Stay." I asked, surprising myself. Something told me I needed Maura tonight just as much as she needed me. She nodded slowly as I pulled my hand back into my lap. "I've had a really bad week." I admitted, sighing as I pulled the coffee cup back to my lips. She waited silently, tilting her head to the left as she waited for me to continue. "A man was kidnapping kids and doing things to them that I can't…" I stopped, the images of the countless bodies of little girls filling my head. "It's been a bad week." I repeated, forcing a strained smile as I suddenly found myself wishing we were in a bar; not a respectful little coffee shop.

"But you got him?" She asked, biting down on the inside of her bottom lip as she spoke. I nodded, wishing knowing that the man was in jail was enough to stop the images from flooding my thoughts. "Do you have nightmares?" She whispered, her head tuning down but her eyes keeping contact with mine as she spoke.

"All of the time." I had never admitted that to anyone; ever. It was strange; sitting here feeling a kinship with a total stranger. "I need a beer." I laughed, the conversation turning a little too personal for me. She giggled and nodded, looking down at her watch.

"Want to find a bar?" She asked me, again, taking me completely off guard. "I finished ten minutes ago." She added, making me nod as I thought through my options.

"Do you want to just come back to my apartment? I have beer." I didn't know what I was doing; but I knew it felt right.

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"I don't normally do things like this." Maura told me as she handed me the bottle of wine she had purchased on her way over. She drove her car to work; so I had just given her my address and met her at my home. This was good, because the scattered clothes and blankets I cleaned up would not have made a good impression; though I couldn't tell you why I cared what this woman thought.

"Me either." I told her truthfully as I opened my beer and gestured towards the sofa. She followed me over without any hesitation. For someone who was scared of people; she didn't seem to be scared of me.

"I'm really thinking about applying at BPD." She told me with a small smile as she swirled her wine in the large glass I had given her. Her words sent butterflies all through my stomach.

"At least you'd know someone." I told her, smiling down into my beer as I spoke. The room around us was quiet; too quiet, I noted as I reached for the remote, putting on an old baseball game and turning the volume down so it was just background noise. "When do you graduate?"

"Tomorrow." She responded casually, causing my to swallow my beer down the wrong pipe, coughing loudly into the room. She giggled as she patted my back until I caught my breath again.

"Why are you drinking?" I laughed, reaching for the wine glass in her hand. She rolled her eyes and moved the glass until it was out of my reach.

"I just finished nine years of medical school; I need a drink." She said with a smirk, taking a long, _long _sip of the red liquid. We sat happily in the quiet and I took the opportunity to really look at her. She had her hair pulled back into a messy bun now; and I noticed her strong cheek bones for the first time. I noticed her round lips and the way her eyes seemed to shine in the dimly lit room. "Are you checking me out?" She joked, making me blush. "I didn't say stop." This time I laughed, covering my face with my free hand, completely embarrassed that I had been caught out.

"You're very beautiful." I admitted, nodding my head as I turned to look at her, her cheeks a light shade of red as she gave me a small, shy smile.

"I think I am definitely applying at BPD." She whispered, reaching her free hand out to rest on top of mine. I bit down on my bottom lip as I moved to place my beer on the coffee table, taking a deep breath before I turned my whole body back toward her, forcing myself to be brave as I leant forward and pressed my lips delicately against hers. I wasn't at all surprised when she, without breaking the kiss, placed her glass on the coffee table and laid backwards until my whole body was on top of hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Janes POV  
**It had been two weeks since I'd laid eyes on Maura Isles, so it was safe to say I was more than surprised when the elevator doors opened to the crime lab to reveal Maura in a red dress. She did not look at all like I remembered her looking. She looked so different with all of her hair pulled away from her delicate face, little to no makeup hiding her pure beauty as she turned and noticed me staring at her.

"Hey stranger." I said quietly as I walked toward her, mentally recalling the fact that the last time I had seen her; she was wearing _a lot _less than what she was wearing now. The thought made my cheeks burn.

"Jane." She said, her voice high with what I could only assume was excitement as she made a slight jumping action as she reached me, wrapping her small frame around my body. Her hands found rest at the base of my back, and I could have sworn I felt her fingers trace my spine before she pulled back. "I'm officially a medical examiner." She announced proudly, putting her hands on her hips as she stood back and let me really look at her.

"You look good." I admitted, not having to lie in the slightest. Her eyes moved from my face to her feet, and I couldn't fight the smile as I realised she was wearing red pumps to work. "Do you have the most recent autopsy report?" I asked, hating that all I could think of talking to her about was work. She nodded and pointed toward her office, the click of her heels on the floor echoing in my head as she walked in front of me. I wasn't reluctant to let my eyes trace over her body. Her dress was fitted, so it showed off every curve perfectly. I bit down on the inside of my lip to stop myself from licking my lips.

"I hope you don't mind that I'm working here." She said casually as she went behind the desk and picked up a folder, scanning through something inside before she handed it to me from across the desk. I frowned slightly as I sat down, making myself comfortable. "Because we slept together." She added, sensing that I didn't quite understand her statement.

"Okay." I chuckled, quickly moving to shut the door on the three lab techs that were looking at us with slight smirks on their faces. "You can't talk about that at work." I told her as calmly as I could as I went back to my place across from her. "And no, I don't mind. I think it was actually my idea." I recalled as I thought back to the night we spent on my sofa. The conversation we had wasn't exactly what was running through my mind though. Her thoughts seemed to echo mine as we made a split second of dark eye contact, both of us laughing awkwardly as I went back to the file in my hands.

"When you said we can't talk about it at work…" Maura started, moving from her standing position to sit on the edge of her desk, her blood red dress riding up higher on her thighs as she did so. I let my eyes wander from her knees up to her face before she spoke again. "Does that mean we can't talk about it in private?" She asked, clearly playing dumb.

"We can talk about it privately." I said with a strained voice, swallowing the lump in my throat and earning a quiet giggling from the woman sitting before me. She crossed one of her knees over the other and the toes of one of her heeled shoes rested on my knee lightly. "You're going to kill me." I laughed, trying to distract myself with the autopsy report in my hand.

"I can assure you; I have no idea what you're referring to." Maura said innocently as she bent forward and rested her elbow on one of her knees, her new position giving me a clear view straight down her dress. I took a deep breath and smiled shyly as I tried to keep my composure.

"Okay, well I have to get back to work." I said with a cough, earning yet another amused laugh from the blonde standing before me. I rolled my eyes with a smile as I stood, realising for the first time just how close to me she was sitting. "I'll see you around." I didn't think Maura had any idea just how much of me she was about to start seeing at work. She nodded slowly as I walked away. I stopped at the door and turned to face her, looking her up and down once more, licking my lips as the memory of her taste came to the front of my head.

"Have a good day, Detective." She said with a smirk as she slid off the desk and made her way into the autopsy room. I let out a quiet groan as I pressed the up button the elevator over and over again.

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**Janes POV  
**I sat across from my little brother and partner at our local watering hole, holding a cold beer in one hand and eating peanuts with the other.

"Okay, _who _are you two staring at?" I questioned, noting both of their eyes resting on something behind me. Both of them shook their heads and laughed awkwardly as I rolled my eyes, turning around to find the girl that had taken all of their attention. Oh god. I let out a groan as I turned back around, squeezing my eyes shut. "You." I started, my eyes still closed as I pointed to where I knew my brother was sitting. "Cannot sleep with her. Ever." Frankie frowned at me as Frost chuckled, nodding a thank you in my direction.

"You're not my mother." Frankie pointed out, looking her up and down again in the same way I had earlier in the day. The mere notion that we looked at her the same way sent a shiver through my body.

"I slept with her." That was all it took for his eyes to close, shaking his head as he tried desperately to shake any dirty image he had of Maura out of his head. "Is she with someone?" I asked, looking at Frost as I spoke. His eyes were wide, clearly taken back by my admission of sleeping with a woman. He nodded yes as Frankies eyes finally opened, resting on me as he shook his head. "What?" I asked with a chuckle as I took another sip of my beer.

"How- When- How?" He asked, clearly completely puzzled by how, and in what universe, a woman like Maura would even glance in my direction. I'd be offended if she wasn't so stunningly perfect that his confusion made perfect sense.

"It was two weeks ago, it was nothing." That was a lie. It was only the best night I could ever recall having on my living room floor. Images of Maura moaning and shaking on my floor flooded my thoughts, my stomach turning into knots at the thought. "I'm going to go say hey." I said with a sigh, knowing if I didn't do it now; I never would.

"Jane!" Maura exclaimed happily as I walked up to her, wrapping my hands around her middle and holding her close. I took a moment to memorise the scent of vanilla and lavender. "This is…" We both turned to face the place where her friend was standing; but she was gone. "Hi." Maura giggled, turning back to face me, placing her straw between her lips and sucking slowly.

"Can I get you a drink?" I offered when she placed the bottle in her hands back down onto the bar before her. She smirked and leaned close enough to whisper in my ear.

"Last time you said that to me; I ended up naked on your living room floor. If you want me naked again; sure, buy me a drink." It was a test; and I knew it was a test. My eyes never left hers as I turned my head, pointing to the bottle she had just put down.

"Another." I asked the bartender; calling her bluff. Maura smirked at me as she nodded and turned her body toward the bar. I could barely believe what was happening; but there was no way I was stopping to ask any questions.

"Why are we wasting time? Let's go." She stated as she drank her whole drink in fifteen seconds, grabbing her purse from her lap and standing up, looking at me with testing eyes.

"We work together." I pointed out, and she smiled as she sat back down beside me.

"I was hoping you'd say that." She said, causing my head to tilt slightly to the right as I waited for an explanation. "If you just took me home; it would mean you don't care." She said, turning to rest her head on her fist, a flirty smile making its way onto her lips as she looked down at my own.

"You're going to be seeing _a lot _of me at work, Maura." I told her, taking another sip of my beer as I spoke, my eyes widening slightly as her hand rested on my thigh under the table.

"I hope I do." She said quietly before she stood again. "Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?" She asked innocently, grabbing a napkin and pen; scribbling down her number and handing it to me. "Have a good night Jane." She whispered as she leaned in impossibly close and pressed her lips to my cheek, her lips linger there far longer than they needed to.

"I'll call you." I promised as she walked away.

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**Mauras POV  
**The light coming from my alarm clock told me it was 2.34am, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out who was calling me so late on a week night.

"Hello?" I asked with a sleepy voice, sitting up and rubbing my eyes with my free hand as I heard chuckling from the other end of the phone. I would have recognised that husky laugh anywhere; an instant smile making its way onto my face. "Jane?"

"Can I come over?" She asked, sounding perfectly sober though the time and background noise of the bar told me she wasn't. I surprised myself by giving her my address without a second thought. I barely even knew this woman yet all I wanted was her in my bed.

It took less than fifteen minutes for the loud knocking on my door to echo through my house. I bit down on my bottom lip as I opened the door, Jane standing before me with a small shy smile on her lips as her eyes scanned over my short, tight, silk slip.

"You're going to kill me." She told me with the same chuckle I heard over the phone earlier, and I felt butterflies grow in my stomach. I had never had this effect on a woman before; It was so empowering.

"I know CPR; It's okay." I whispered, making her smirk across at me as I opened the door further and gesturing for her to come in. As soon as I had the door closed; my back was pushed against it; Janes hands on my hips as her lips pressed lightly to my lips. I let out a quiet moan, the taste of beer and the faint scent of cigarettes filling all my senses.

"I care." She said simply as she rested her forehead against my own. My heart skipped a beat; an action I wasn't at all used to. I nodded and laced my fingers with her own, turning the lock on the front door as I lead her toward my bedroom.

"Lay down." I instructed her as I quickly went into the bathroom and grabbed a cold washcloth. When I returned Jane was wearing nothing but a tank top and her underwear as was lying flat on her back on my side of the bed. I moved to lay beside her, placing the cold cloth on her forehead as I did so. She turned to look at me, her eyes only half open as she did so.

"You are so beautiful." She whispered, reaching a hand out to stroke my face and missing, making a loud clap sound as her hand collided with the sheets. "But we work together." She added, groaning as she moved her hand to rest on my upper thigh. "Be my best friend." She stated, her words slightly slurred as she spoke.

"Best friends." I agreed, an unfamiliar pain striking through my heart at my own words.


	3. Chapter 3

**Janes POV  
**After my little stint showing up at Mauras house at 2am last month, things had really calmed down. I saw her every day at work, and we found ourselves spending more and more time together outside of work too. The dynamic of our friendship was essentially the same; just without the late night romps on the floor. We still shared quiet, intimate moments but they no longer went to the extent they once did; and I found myself missing it.

"Hey here's a question for you." I started as I pulled my body up to sit on Mauras kitchen counter, watching her sit on the floor beside Bass as she attempted to feed him strawberries that I would rather be eating. "How do you move him?" She looked up at me with her eyebrows pulled together, confusion written all over her beautiful face.

"Why would I move him?" She asked innocently as she rest her hand on his shell, petting him as though he could feel it. I wonder if he could feel it. I knew if I asked I would get a three hour explanation of how her tortoise's anatomy works; so I opted against it.

"I don't know." I shrugged, debating if I could grab a strawberry out of the bowl in her hands before she pulled them away. "But say you _had _to move him; how would you? I mean, he is really heavy right?" I asked casually, her brow still pulled together.

"But why do I _have _to move him?" I let a loud groan escape my mouth as I accepted I was never going to get an answer out of her. I hoped off the counter and grabbed the whole bowl she had in her hands, a smirk on my face as she reached to take it back, failing miserably as I made my way to the sofa.

"Baseball or a movie?" I asked loudly as the sound of her heels came closer. I instinctively tightened my grip on the bowl in my hands. Maura moved to stand directly in the way of the TV and held her hands out for the bowl. "If you can move him to here…" I stopped, pointing at a random spot on the carpet between us. "He can have whatever's left."

"You are ridiculous." Maura said, a small smile coming onto her lips as she shook her head, picking the remote up off of the coffee table before me.

"No, don't you dare." I complained as she put the discovery channel on, took the batteries out of the remote and then handed it to me. I was relieved when a shark appeared on the TV. At least it was something I could handle watching.

"Move." She instructed, pointing to the edge of the sofa. I muttered something about her being bossy under my breath before I moved to where she was telling me to. She sighed happily as she lay on the sofa, her feet resting in my lap as she placed a blanket over the both of us. My hands rested on her ankles the way they did nearly every night they found themselves in this position.

"Have you heard from Casey?" She asked, not moving her eyes from the television as she spoke. Telling Maura about my previous complicated relationship, if you could call it that, with Casey was probably the worst decision I had ever made. She asked me at least once a day if I had heard from him. I never understood her question; she must have known I would have told her voluntarily if he had made any effort to contact me, which he hadn't. I shook my head simply, hoping my decision to not use words would end any potential conversation. I was wrong.

"When is he coming back?" She asked, leaning forward to grab a strawberry out of the bowl in my lap. I rolled my eyes, turning to rest my head on the back of the sofa, my eyes meeting her emerald green, innocent eyes.

"I don't know, Maura." I said with a sigh, pursing my lips and forcing a soft smile. She nodded slowly before turning to look back at the documentary that neither of us were actually watching.

"Did you love him?" She asked in the same casual, calm voice. I felt my brow scrunch together at her question. Why was she so interested in my ex-boyfriend tonight?

"Is there something you'd like to talk about?" I asked her, hoping she would get straight to whatever it is she wanted to say without asking me one more question about Casey. She looked back toward me innocently, her lips turning downwards as she shook her head. "Then can we stop talking about Casey please?" I asked, earning a roll of her eyes and a subtle nod. A few moments of blissful quiet passed before she spoke again.

"I wonder if he died." Maura mused, frustrating me to the point where I couldn't even bring myself to turn and look at her. I didn't say a word as I pushed her feet roughly off of my lap. I shot her a glare before I stood and made my way to her guest bedroom. I had never actually slept in the guest bedroom before; but I was sure as hell not sleeping next to her after that.

I groaned loudly in frustration as I let my body fall backwards onto the bed, my hands automatically moving to cover my face as I took three deep breaths, her words echoing loudly in my head as I tried to relax. _I wonder if he died. _Who says that? Suddenly it was all I could think of. Maybe that was why I hadn't heard from him. None of his family knew about our past relationship; so no one would know or think to tell me if he did die. I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the internet browser.

"Jane…" A quiet voice came from the bedroom door. She entered without me saying a word and lay beside me, looking up at my phone to see what I was doing. "I shouldn't have said that; I'm sorry." She whispered as she recognised that I was scrolling through the internet looking for any hint that he died. They had to post stuff like that somewhere right?

"Why the hell would you say something like that?" I asked as I gave up on my phone, dropping it to the bed as I realised how irrational I was behaving. Just because Maura said something; didn't make it true. She bit down on her bottom lip and turned to rest her head on my chest. I wanted to push her away and tell her to go sleep in her own bed, but the words never came.

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**Janes POV  
**"Get off." I moaned, instinctively pushing Mauras body weight off me as I spoke. It was warm in this bedroom in the mornings and there were beads of sweat on my chest where Mauras head had just been. She opened her eyes slightly and frowned at me before she raised her eyebrows and looked around the room, clearly confused about where she was.

"Why…" She started before she recalled why we were in fact in this room instead of her bedroom like we usually were. I sighed and knew the heat would make it impossible for either of us to get back to sleep. "Can I tell you something without you committing me to a psych ward?" She asked seriously as we made our way into the kitchen. I sat down on one of the stools at her counter and debated if I could be bothered being sarcastic this early in the morning.

"Sure." I said simply, extending my hands to grasp the cup of instant coffee she was handing me, taking slow sips and sighing happily at the cheap, microwaved coffee.

"I'm pretty sure I'm part psychic." I couldn't help but chuckle, thinking she had to be joking. Her annoyed expression told me otherwise. "Sometimes I think of something and I can't stop thinking of that one thing; and then it, or they…." She said, looking up at me, hoping I would catch on to what she was hinting at; and I did. "Show up somehow." I nodded slowly as I took another sip of my coffee. All I could think was that it was _way _too early for this conversation.

"So you keep thinking about Casey?" I asked, trying to place all the puzzle pieces she had just given me together. She simply nodded as she began making herself an espresso. "And you think that means he's going to show up?" She nodded again. I smiled and tried not to laugh at her; knowing all that would accomplish is a very quiet breakfast.

"Just you watch; within the next week you'll either hear from him…" She looked at me with such a sure look on her face I almost believed what she was feeding me. "Or see him." She finished her sentence and bent forward, resting her body weight on the counter between us.

"Do you realise we've been awake for fifteen minutes and we haven't…" On cue; my phone began buzzing from beside me. "No!" I groaned, throwing my body weight around in my chair as I noted Frosts name on the caller I.D

"You jinxed it." Maura smirked as her phone began ringing too; a frown quickly taking the place of the smug smile she just donned.

"Rizzoli." I sighed into the phone.

"Isles." Maura answered in her typical happy, calm, respectful voice. As usual; she put me to shame.

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**I know, a bit of a boring chapter, but I promise things are about to get VERY interesting!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers, you're all incredible.  
I promise this isn't headed in the direction it seems to be…**_

_**I also promise you can all stop worrying about Casey coming back.**_

_**Happy reading x**_

**Chapter 4**

**Janes POV  
**I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was waiting for Casey to show up on my doorstep every night for the past two weeks, but of course; he never showed up the way my psychic best friend had predicted. I didn't know why I was surprised she was wrong. I guess because Maura Isles was never wrong; Ever.

It was my turn to host the monthly family dinner, an occasion I had fast begun to love. Mostly because it meant I got to spend all of Sunday with Maura in the kitchen, following her careful directions as she helped me cook something she knew I was capable of cooking alone. I watched her carefully as she sprinkled cheese on top of the lasagne she had spent the afternoon making from scratch. She had told me weeks earlier that she could not cook without music on; and as it turned out, her needing music while she cooked was the reason I was starting to love cooking.

"Oven." She said with a smile as she nodded down at the huge dish before her. I knew she was able to lift it and put it in the oven on her own; but I got secret pleasure out of her needing my help. She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of wine, her hips rhythmically moving in time with the beat that filled the apartment as she did so.

"Do you have to do that?" I asked with a playful smile as she, even with heels on, stood on the tips of her toes to grab a wine glass out of the cabinet, her dress almost revealing her underwear as she did so. She rolled her eyes at me as she turned around and began pouring herself a drink.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before." She smirked, her eyes not rising from the wine in front of her as she spoke. It sent a wave of butterflies through my stomach. Even after two months; The memory of her skin against mine was fresh. "And you saw it all from _a lot _closer than this." She added, raising her eyebrows as she looked up at me, bringing the glass to her lips as she spoke. It was my turn to roll my eyes, knowing the conversation could have gotten extremely awkward and intense too quickly.

"We're on call; you really shouldn't be drinking." I told her, pulling myself up onto the counter as I looked at her with raised eyebrows. As hard as I tried to hold in my laugh, her wide eyes looking between my face and her drink made it impossible. "I'm kidding." Maura was never one to pick up on jokes, and I knew if I didn't clarify; she'd start to do that annoying breathing control thing she does.

"You're hilarious." She said sarcastically, and almost as if on cue; her phone began to ring loudly through the kitchen, making us both jump. She groaned and stomped her foot before she answered the phone. I frowned slightly as I noted the change in the expression on her face. "I'll be there shortly." She said down the phone in a quiet voice. "Yes, I understand." She added before she hung up, taking a deep breath before she smiled and looked up at me.

"Murder?" I inquired, noting that my phone was yet to go off. It was rare for her phone to ring before mine did. She took a long sip from her glass before she placed it on the counter beside me.

"Something like that." She rolled her eyes playfully. My eyes tightened on her face, knowing fine well what was going on.

"Maura Isles." I said sharply, making her stop in her tracks as she moved for the front door, not offering me any further explanation. "I haven't known you long, but I know when you're trying to lie without lying." I heard her groan quietly as she turned back to face me, her hand on her chest where hives had already begun to show. "Spill."

"It's personal." She said simply, offering me nothing but an apologetic smile before she made a b-line for the door. Before I could say anything else; she was gone, leaving me alone in my kitchen trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

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**Mauras POV  
**"What do you want?" I asked in the best short, sharp voice I could manage as I walked into my fathers office, if that's what you could call it. He looked up at me, jumping ever so slightly at my sudden presence. Who would have thought a man in his line of _work _could be so easily scared.

"Sit down." He offered, gesturing to the chair across from his. I rolled my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh in the exact manner I had been since I was sixteen. Being related to my father was exhausting. "Hows work?" He asked casually as he removed his glasses and relaxed back into his chair, looking directly at me as he spoke.

"What do you want, dad?" I asked again, wanting nothing more than for him to get to his point. I knew whatever he wanted to talk to me about was something he knew I wasn't going to like. Why else would he bother with pleasantries first? This was not the man I grew up with.

"How is work?" He asked, his voice hinting at the fact he was fast growing impatient with my attitude toward him. I let out a quiet sigh as I prepared to answer his question.

"I love it. It was so worth the study." I admitted, forcing a small smile to show how genuine and serious I was. Nothing made me happier than my job. Except maybe Jane.

"I need you to relocate." He said simply, nodding as he spoke. I frowned without hesitation, cocking my head to the left as I waited for an explanation of his words. "You're too close to that woman, that dark haired cop." He said, my stomach turning slightly at the mere mention of Jane.

"How do you know that?" I asked, a sick feeling growing quickly in my stomach as his nervous eyes told me all I needed. "You've been _watching _me?!" I exclaimed, sitting forward in my chair, a slight shot of pleasure running through my veins when he moved his chair backwards.

"She is investigating your father and she doesn't even know it." He said, my eyes slowly closing as I remembered the body we had been called in for two weeks ago. Of course; How had I not known? I had a million thoughts running through my head. I had been easily dodging the subject of my parents with Jane, but now it was about to start interfering with her job, with my job. "Your mother can get you a job in her clinic."

"I spent the best part of ten years at BCU to end up working for my _mother_?" I don't think I had ever been angrier in my life. I had worked so hard, sacrificed so much to do what I wanted to do with my life; and now it was all about to end. "Wait." The realisation of what he was saying hit me like a ton of bricks. "In France?!" I yelled, throwing my head back as my hands moved to cover my face.

"You're sleeping with the lead detective in a homicide in which I am the prime suspect. You're too close to this. You're leaving." His words completely caught me off guard, my eyes widening as he put his glasses on and went back to looking at whatever business was in front of him.

"Once. I slept with her once. Two months ago it's not like that I'm not…"

"Maura. You're going." I hated the way anything my father said seemed so final. Here I was, twenty nine years old being told by my father that I was being sent away. I sat there debating my options. I could have fought him on it, say I wasn't leaving and go straight back to Janes. If I did that, it would end one of two ways. Jane would end up on my autopsy table, or my father would eventually end up in prison for the rest of his life.

"Okay." The word left my mouth before I even knew I was saying it. I didn't bother waiting for his response. I stood and left the building as fast as I could, letting the panic attack that began to rise in my chest run its course before I made my way back to Janes house.

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**Janes POV  
**It was midnight before I heard Maura lightly tap on my front door in the same rhythmic manner she had done from the first time she had come to my home. My heart sank the moment I opened the door and saw her red, swollen eyes and disheleved hair.

"What happened?" I whispered as I opened the door wider to let her in. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself, a barely visible shiver shaking her whole body in the process. "No?"

"I got a… I got a job." I could tell she was choosing her words carefully. She hadn't yet looked me in the eye; Mauras biggest give away. "In France." My eyes widened as my head sunk forward slightly as I realised what exactly she was trying to tell me.

"You have a job." I reminded her, momentarily wondering how a woman who had only just finished medical school managed to get a job in France on such short notice. "You have a life, you can't just leave." She bit down hard on her bottom lip at my words, nodding slowly. My brain scrambled to think of a good reason for her to stay. "You have… You can't just leave me." She squeezed her eyes shut, her head falling into her hands at my words.

"Don't." She quietly begged as I took a step toward her, intending to wrap my arms around her shaking torso. "I'll call you." She added, again not looking at me before she turned and walked back to her car, driving away and not looking back.

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**Mauras POV  
**I had two weeks. Two weeks to do all that needed to be done before I was on a plane leaving the country. My home was a lot bigger than I cared to admit; so I knew I had to start packing before I changed my mind and didn't do it at all. I couldn't listen to music. Every lyric of every song somehow managed to make me think of Jane. Jane. I was leaving the best thing that ever happened to me. Before her, I had never had a best friend. I had never had a friend.

"You can still change your mind." Janes voice came from the open front door, making me drop the box I was holding in my hands. I forced a polite smile in her direction as I picked the box back up, making my way to the bookcase in the living room, slowly placing books in one by one.

"Can you start with the DVDS?" I asked, nodding toward the cabinet by the television. She nodded silently as she grabbed a premade box off of the floor. We continued in awkward silence for the best part of two hours before she caved. "Ma wants to throw you a goodbye dinner." She said, turning to face me with her hands placed firmly on both of her hips. I knew this wasn't headed in any sort of good direction.

"That would be lovely." I said quietly, continuing to move around the living room, placing unimportant items into random boxes.

"Yeah, it's lovely." She said, a hint of venom in her voice as she spoke. "You get to say _goodbye _to everyone all at once and you never have to see any of us again." There it was. I sighed and turned around, placing the box I was holding on the sofa.

"Jane." I was hoping my warning tone would be enough, but of course, it wasn't.

"You can't do that." She said quietly, a frown deep on her face as she kept her hands on her hips, looking into my eyes with such piercing anger it made me uncomfortable.

"Do what?" I whispered, knowing that she needed to get out her anger over my sudden departure out before I left if we had any chance of keeping a friendship.

"You can't walk into people's lives; change them forever and then just leave with two weeks' notice." Her whole demeanour changed with those simple words. Her hands fell from her hips to rest by her side, her eyes softened and her head dropped slightly. She was hurt.

"You can come visit." I said simply, the guilt of all that was happening becoming almost too much for me to bare.

"No." She said after a moment of silence. I let out an exhausted sigh as I looked back to her face, frustration and emotional exhaustion taking over all of my senses.

"Do you think this is easy for me?" I asked, feeling tears burn the back of my eyes as I spoke. She looked up at me now, her expression even softer than before as she noted my slumped over body and tear stained eyes. "This is the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do; and you, my best friend? You're making it harder. You're not supposed to be making it harder." My quiet tears turned into violent sobs as I let my body fall to sit on the sofa behind me, completely defeated by all that was happening.

"I can't be sorry for needing you to stay." Her voice was quiet, and to my surprise, rather than coming to comfort me, she left. She left me sitting there in a mess of tears, mucus and boxes. She left.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Janes POV  
**"Shut up; you did _not _say that." My mother said quietly to me as she lay beside me stroking my hair. I nodded and sighed, moving to bury my head into her neck. "Okay for you to want a hug; this must be bad." I internally rolled my eyes at her. I wanted to push her away and move just to make a point, but I physically couldn't bring myself to do it. It was almost as if her arms were holding me together, keeping me in one piece.

"This is so dumb." I complained into her hair. I had known Maura barely three months and here I was, a thirty year old woman all but crying to her mother about her best friend moving away. I wanted to so badly to be excited for Maura, wanted so badly to throw her a huge party and celebrate her new job; but I couldn't. The mere thought of her leaving the state, let alone the country, made me feel sick.

"You need to go and talk to her. The fact she hasn't told you _anything _about her job is a red flag, Janie. Go find out why she is really leaving." Ma whispered slowly, knowing she was going to get a strong reaction. I pushed away and sat on the edge of the bed, running my hands through my ridiculously messy hair trying to come up with a good reason as to why I didn't have to go.

"She doesn't want to see me." I said, testing the waters with my mother, hoping she would change her mind, agree and let me complain some more.

"Either you go talk to her, or I will." That was all I needed. I pushed my body off the bed and shot her a small smile as I headed for the door. I practiced what I wanted to say the whole short drive to my best friends house, yet when I found myself standing at her door, all my coherent thoughts went out the window.

"Hello?" I said in the calmest, most held together voice I could manage as I pushed her front door open. She looked up at me from the sofa, sighed, and looked back at the book she held in her hands. I nodded, accepting that I probably deserved to be ignored as I closed the front door behind me and moved to sit on her coffee table in front of her, leaning forward and resting my hands on her knees.

"You shouldn't be here." She said quietly. Again, I probably deserved that.

"Tell me." She rolled her eyes as she looked up at me, waiting for me to continue. "Why are you really leaving." I noticed her swallow and her eyes widen slightly at my words. Ma was right.

"I can assure you…"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about." I finished her sentence, having heard it come from her mouth more than once during our short friendship. "Tell me why, or ask me to leave." She waited, and I actually thought she was about to ask me to leave.

"It is extremely complicated." She said quietly as she closed the Greys Anatomy book in her hands, placing it on the sofa beside her as she looked down at my hands, still resting on her knees.

"Try me." I tested, shuffling forward slightly, my hands moving further up her legs as I did so. I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach as she looked into my eyes.

"You're going to be extremely angry." She changed her earlier statement, and it took everything in me not to roll my eyes as I prepared for the mood change I was about to experience. Maura was generally right about everything; and I couldn't find a reason as to why she probably wasn't right about this too.

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**Mauras POV  
**"It's about my father." I took a deep breath and let my eyes drift shut as I began. This was a horrible idea, yet I found myself needing to tell her. Maybe if she knew, she would be able to find some insane way of helping me stay.

"You've never told me about him before." She pointed out, her voice softening as she let her thumb trace small patterns on my thigh. I placed a hand on top of hers to still her fingers. If I had any chance of getting through this; she couldn't be touching me like that.

"My father is Paddy Doyle." The second the words left my mouth, she had sat up straight, her hands falling away from my legs as she did so. I waited for her to yell at me, and I even wondered if she'd slap me for not telling her earlier. Her eyes were wide as her hands went to cover her mouth. A few moments of silence passed before she ran both her hands through her hair before resting her hands back on my thighs.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked seriously, her eyes piercing straight into mine as she spoke. I wasn't used to being intimidated by Jane, but I was tonight.

"I rarely see or speak to him. I try to forget about that part of my life." She continued nodding. She had no idea what it was like. Growing up as Paddy Doyles daughter was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. "Jane…" I started, wanting to tell her exactly what I was thinking but the potential implications for my father and myself terrified me.

"It's me." She reminded me, grabbing a hold of my hand and bringing it to her lips, pressing feather light kisses to my fingertips.

"When I was eighteen I dated a guy who worked with my dad." She frowned slightly; completely unaware of the direction I was headed. "I found out some not nice things about him, and as a joke, I asked my father to get rid of him." She looked apprehensive as to if she wanted to hear the end of my story, but I knew if I stopped she'd end up begging me to tell her. "They found his body three weeks later." Her eyes widened again as she dropped her chin to rest against her chest.

"Maura, this is really serious." She told me, and without thinking I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, it gets better." She sighed and nodded for me to continue. "My fathers signature is an ice pick." She thought over my words, and I waited patiently for her to connect the dots back to the man whose homicide we were in the process of solving.

"Oh holy shit." She said, laughing as she sat back and covered her face with both of her hands. "Holy shit." She said again, still chuckling as she shook her head. I felt my head drop slightly to the left as I tried desperately to find a reason for her laughter. "This is _so _bad."

"This is why I'm moving." Her laughter stopped and her smile disappeared as we came back to the topic at hand. "He knows we're friends, he knows we work together and you are not safe so long as either of those continue." She made a quiet humming sound, indicating that she had heard and understood what I was saying.

"So if you stay and everything stays the way it is; I'm all but dead." The mere notion of Jane being dead gave me goosebumps. I nodded, not trusting my voice to speak. "Stay." It was my turn to laugh. "I'm serious." I tightened my eyes as my laughter came to an end. "So you were leaving the country to protect me?" The sudden realisation dawned over my best friends face as she stared at me with more adoration and love than any other human being ever had.

"Yes." Was all I could say, still not trusting my voice to any degree.

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**Mauras POV  
**"Jane?" I called out through the apartment, panic setting in as I noted that she was no longer in the bed asleep beside me. "Jane!" I called louder as I ran down the hallway, my hand resting over my chest as I found her in the living room wearing my grey sweat pants and a black tank top.

"I'm alive." She joked, chuckling at my behaviour. I let out a breath of relief, tying my dressing gown closed as I noted what she was doing. I let out a loud, dramatic groan that bought her actions to a halt.

"What are you doing?" I complained, stomping one of my feet hard on the ground.

"You had to pack alone; So I'm unpacking for you." She said simply, clearly not understanding what I was asking.

"I know what you're doing, why are you doing it?" I said, rewording my earlier remark in hopes of getting an answer I actually needed.

"You're not being run out of town by that idiot." She said as she placed the last book on the bookshelf. All I could think of was the fact she didn't know my system and the books looked horrible the way she had organised them.

"This isn't a joke, Jane." I said seriously as I moved to stand in front of her. She placed her hands on both of my hips. Her touch sent a jolt of electricity through my body.

"I care about you." She said, and I noticed her eyes darting from my eyes to my lips more than once as she spoke. "You're not leaving." I closed my eyes and couldn't find an argument. I'd let her have her way for today.

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**Janes POV  
**Maura and I lay silently side by side in her bed, doing nothing but staring at one another for what felt like hours. My eyes traced her cheek bones, noting how perfectly they shaped her face. Her green eyes were somehow lighter in the dim light. My heart was pounding against my chest as I tried to find the nerve to reach out and touch her face. She smiled softly, almost as though she had read my mind.

"I care about you." I whispered, repeating my sentence from earlier in the night. I knew she heard it before, but I wanted her to _hear _it. This woman was willing to give up her life for me. She was giving up her dream job, her friends, everything; All to protect me. I couldn't wrap my head around it, no matter how hard I tried.

"You need to let me leave." It was the last thing I was expecting her to say. I went to sit up and prepare for the fight, but she rest her hand on my forearm and softly pushed me back to lay down again. She kept her voice quiet and I could have sworn I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. "I have friends there, and it won't be hard for me to find a M.E position." Her face looked different as she spoke. She seemed calm, completely sure of what she was saying. "I will be okay, and so will you." She reached out and touched my face in the way I wish I had the nerve to do moments earlier.

"Don't stay for your job or your friends." I started, nodding slowly, keeping my voice at the same quiet decibel she had spoken in. "Stay for me." I knew it was an unfair thing to ask, but at this point I was willing to try anything.

"I am leaving for you." I let out a quiet sigh, wondering if there was anything I was going to be able to say to make her stay. That's when it clicked. Words wouldn't make her stay, but actions sure as hell might.

"Please." I felt tears well in my eyes, and no matter how hard I tried to keep them from falling, I felt the drops hit my cheek none the less. I bought my hand up to her face, softly stroking her cheek as I spoke. "I love you." I admitted, feeling as though the heaviest weight had just been lifted off my shoulders. "I am so in love with you." I repeated as I moved closer to her, her eyes closing as my lips found hers.

She didn't respond to the kiss to start with, but after a few seconds, her hands found my face and I found her deepening the kiss. When I pulled away, she rest her forehead against mine, shaking her head slowly.

"I guess I'm staying." She sighed against my face, her breath on my skin completely intoxicating as I let my eyes drift closed. "But tomorrow we need to have a conversation about what you just told me, Jane."

Fuck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Mauras POV  
**"Would you just _listen _to me?!" I yelled, my voice echoing through the house as I did so. Jane didn't seem even slightly shocked at my outburst as she pulled her boots and tied them up roughly. She stood up, shooting me a glare as she walked past me and made her way to the front door. "Listen to me!" I screamed, my voice piercing my own ears. My eyes widened as I fought all my natural reactions to burst into tears and drop to the floor out of frustration.

"Hurry up." Jane said as she removed her hand from the front door knob, turning to face me. She looked exhausted and it made me furious.

"My whole life I have been told what I can and cannot do. I am not letting you treat me that way too." I told her, taking a deep breath as I felt a shot of anxiety and panic shoot through my body. No, this was not the time for my body to let me down. I had spent the past hour fighting with Jane about the fact I wanted to go speak to my father this morning. We had found ourselves stuck in the middle of trying to protect one another, and somehow we ended up hurting each other.

"Maura we are not talking about a reasonable man." She said, her voice still lined with the same anger she spoke with earlier.

"He's my father." I reminded her. She didn't know anything about my father other than what she had read in newspapers and police reports. "I need you to support me." I said, my voice softening despite my best efforts to keep strong. She let her head fall back as she let out a quiet groan, not looking at me as she crossed the room, wrapping her arms around my shoulders tightly.

"You call me the _second _you leave." She said, pulling back before she pressed her lips lightly against my forehead. She lingered there a lot longer than necessary, but there was no chance of me complaining.

"We still need to talk about…" I started, but she covered my mouth with both of her hands, a small smile on her face as my eyes widened at her actions. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to her own hands, and on instinct, I kissed the palm of her hand that was covering my lips.

"We have far more important things to be talking about." She whispered and before I knew it, she was gone and I was getting ready to head to my fathers. I knew I had to plan out this conversation meticulously if I had any chance of saying all I needed to.

It was going to be a _long_ afternoon.

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**Mauras POV  
**"Hey daddy." I said to my father as casually as I could as I walked toward him, sighing at the comfortable feeling of his strong arms as they wrapped around my body. I could faintly smell a woman's perfume on his jacket, and I closed my eyes as I tried to pretend I hadn't. "Can we sit?" I asked as politely as I could as I moved to sit on his large sofa. He sat beside me without hesitating, clearly completely unaware of what was about to happen.

"I have a surprise." He said with a small smile as he looked directly behind me. I naturally turned to find my mother walking toward me. Great, now I was going to have to fight with _both _of my parents. Everyone always commented on how different my parents were. My mother came and sat beside me in her designer dress and heels, her hair and makeup perfect. My father was wearing a pair of black pants, a tshirt and a casual jacket over the top.

They were completely different, and I know it never made sense to anyone why they were together. Opposites attract. I never quite believed or understood the social meaning behind that word, but as I sat between my parents and noticed just how different they were, it made sense. It was just like Jane and I. Completely different, yet exactly the same.

"I'm not going to France." I blurted out before either of my parents could start with their small talk. My mother sighed quietly as she looked past me to meet my fathers eyes, her hand moving to rest on my lower back as we both prepared for the onslaught my words were about to bring.

"You seem to think you have a choice in the matter, Maura." My father said with a dark chuckle as he stood up and made his way to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a glass of whiskey before he sat across from us. "This isn't up for discussion, Maura." He said, and even as I felt the anger grow inside me, I stayed as composed as I could.

"I am not fifteen years old." I reminded him, my eyes staring straight into his as I spoke. I knew if I was going to get anywhere in this conversation I would have to prove how serious I was. "I am a grown woman, and I say we are discussing this." My mothers hand moved slowly over my lower back in support, though I know that if my father could see her hand, she wouldn't have moved a muscle. I also knew she was going to sit silently throughout this whole conversation.

"Talk." He said, and I could imagine this is exactly what it would be like doing business with him. I couldn't pinpoint what it was about him that intimidated everyone, including me. Whatever it was; It was working.

"I am not sleeping with Jane." I started, figuring that was a good place to start. "But I care about her a great deal. She is the best, and only, friend I've had. Why are you so determined to take that away from me?" _Stay composed Maura; do not cry. Do not cry._

"I know you're sleeping with her." He said as he moved to grab a file out of the coffee table, pulling a photograph out and dropping it in front of me. I picked it up and looked up at him in shock. It was a picture of Jane and I at the Dirty Robber, my lips inches from her ear, her arm draped lazily around my waist.

"What the hell is this?!" I asked in anger, handing the photo to my mother who of course, didn't say a word as she placed the photo, facing downwards, back on the coffee table. "We slept together _once!_ What does that have anything to do with this anyway?!"

"You are dating a police officer!" He yelled at me, making my mothers grip on my back tighten. I wondered momentarily if he had ever hurt her during one of his rages. I couldn't find another explanation for her jumpy, quiet reaction.

"I am not dating her!" I yelled back, groaning knowing this was going to be exactly like trying to fight with Jane. They had lot in common, my best friend and father, though I would never dare say that to Jane. "What if she removes herself from the case?" I asked, knowing there is no way Jane would willingly remove herself from any homicide case.

"Why can't you be more like Kate?" He asked, looking at me with disgust in his eyes. His words would have hurt me if I hadn't heard them a million times growing up.

"Paddy." My mother warned quietly, looking directly at my face as she spoke. My sister was everything my father wanted from his daughter. She was exactly like him. She did business with him, she handled business for him, and she did anything he asked. I hadn't seen my twin sister since I started medical school. She thought I was betraying our father by not following in his footsteps. I disliked her more than I could put into words.

"I am a doctor. I own my own home. I have a best friend who adores me. I am healthy, and I am happy." I said, looking directly into my fathers disapproving eyes. "If you hurt Jane, I hope you're aware you'll be effectively ending any relationship you and I share." His eyes widened at my words. I imagined Paddy Doyle wasn't exactly used to people giving him ultimatums.

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**Mauras POV  
**"So what did he say?" Jane asked reluctantly, biting down on her bottom lip nervously as she waited for my response. I took a deep breath before I spoke, moving to take one of her hands in mine

"He said okay." She frowned, her head tilting slightly to the right at my words. "I know." I laughed, still not believing it myself. I left out the part where I was sobbing and begging my father to just let us be. I knew that would do nothing but upset my best friend, and that's the last thing I wanted. "But I have to call my sister."

"Why?" She asked, dropping her head further to the right, her curls bouncing as she did so. She was adorable. "Wait you have a sister?" She asked, her eyes wide as she took in the new piece of information. I really hadn't shared much about my personal life with her, considering she was my best friend, I decided that was going to change after tonight.

"A twin sister, actually." I told her, nodding as images of my dark haired counterpart filled my head. She could be blonde again for all I knew. I could be an aunty. I had no idea about anything about her life anymore.

"Why don't you two talk?" She asked, testing the waters to see just how much information I was going to divulge. I wasn't comfortable with the conversation at all, but as I looked into her dark, safe eyes I knew it was oaky.

"She followed in my fathers footsteps and I followed in my mothers. She resents me for not being loyal to my dad or something to that affect." I rolled my eyes, smiling softly as she nodded.

"So why do you have to call her?" Jane asked, seeking clarification as to what this all exactly meant when it came down to it.

"The deal was that he would leave you and I be if I tried to mend things with Kate." I shrugged, knowing all I had to do was make one phone call, be hung up on, and it would all be over. It was a small price to pay to keep Jane by my side. I was pushed out of my thoughts by a quiet knock on the door. Both of our eyes looked at the closed door.

"Maura…" Jane said in a quiet warning voice as I stood and made my way to the door. She groaned quietly as stood beside me out of sight, her gun drawn. I opened the door and my heart sank at the sight before me.

"Kate." Janes eyes widened as she lowered her weapon at my words. She grabbed the door and slowly pulled it open to get a better look at my sibling. There was no denying that we were twins. The only physical difference between us was our hair colour. Mine, a soft strawberry blonde, while hers was dark and unkempt; A lot like her personality.

"Dad said you wanted to talk." She said simply, not even bothering to look at Jane.

"I was planning on calling you." I told her, pulling my phone out of my dress pocket and holding it up. The fact either one of my parents had given her my address bothered me. The fact it bothered me, bothered me just as much.

"Can we have some privacy?" Kate snapped, her eyes finally moving to Jane. I frowned and reached for Janes forearm. "Please." Kate asked, her voice more gentle as she turned to look me in the eye.

"Can you give us a minute?" I asked Jane quietly as I opened the door further for Kate, who without invitation went and sat on my sofa. Jane nodded silently as she made her way to my bedroom. I could imagine the door open and her ears listening intently from the other room. "Why are you really here?" I asked, knowing there was no way she would have come here just to chat.

"He asked me to." She shrugged casually. She was wearing the same pant suit I had seen Jane wear a hundred times before, and it made me slightly uncomfortable as I realised just how well Jane would fit in with my family; if they weren't mobsters and murderers.

"Still doing anything he asks, huh?" I giggled, looking down at my hands as I realised my joke probably wasn't funny because of how true the statement actually was.

"You have a niece." She told me in a hushed voice, turning to look me in the eye. I pursed my lips and nodded slowly, completely taken back by the fact neither of my parents thought it was appropriate to tell me this. "She's one. Her name is Imogen." She was giving me emotionless statements. "Mom told her about you, she knows you exist."

"What do you want, Kate?" I asked, ignoring her attempts to me feel guilty over a tiny human I never even knew existed until right now.

"Are you two…" She stopped, gesturing toward the direction Jane had just walked.

"Are you really asking me personal questions? You ignore me for ten years then show up asking me personal questions? Why are you here, Kate?" I asked, reiterating my earlier question, my voice lower and harsher than I had intended.

"Dad is going away for a while." She started, making my eyebrows raise as I nodded slowly. Of course it had something to do with him. "He's asked me to take over for him while he's gone." She stopped until I turned to look at her. "I need you to take Imogen." I laughed at her words, throwing my whole body back to rest on the sofa.

"For how long?" I inquired, smiling in disbelief as I spoke. Her pursed lips told me that not even she knew how long for. "He's really got you wrapped around his finger." I couldn't believe she was asking me to take her child so she could play head mobster until our father returned from wherever he was going. "I all but live with Jane." I started, knowing this was my best option for getting out of this without seeming like the bad guy. "Your child would be around a police officer almost 24/7."

"Good." Her statement shocked me, my raised eyebrows earning a quiet laugh from my sister. "Please." She whispered, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

"Bring her by tomorrow and we'll see if she likes me." I said casually, almost instantly regretting my own words.

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Janes POV  
"You did what?!" Jane exclaimed, her eyes wide as she placed both her hands on either side of her face in shock. "Maura! You cannot just take a one year old into your home for god knows how long." I frowned at her negativity.

"Why not?" I asked, completely bewildered by her strong emotional reaction.

"You don't have a crib. You don't have a car seat. You don't have bottles. You don't have diapers. You don't have…"

"That's why we're going shopping." I said with a smile as I leaned closer to her, pressing my lips to her cheek softly.

"I don't think you have any idea what you're in for here, Maura." She said, shaking her head as she closed her eyes in frustration.

It was a little human, how hard could it be?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Mauras POV  
**"No way. Nope." Jane groaned from beside me, waking me from the most uncomfortable, most disturbed sleep I could ever recall having. I let out a quiet sigh as I sat up, the alarm clock beside the bed reading 6.05am.

"She's had a big lifestyle change, Jane." I said quietly as I moved to the crib in the corner of the room, smiling as I lifted the small blonde girl into my arms.

"So have you but you don't cry every half an hour." She said in a grumpy voice as she sat up, turning on the lamp on what had fast turned into her side of the bed. She held her arms out, and without practiced precision I placed Imogen in her lap. Jane let out a loud, content sigh as she pulled the girl into a cuddle, Imogens chubby little hands resting on Janes shoulder blades as she nuzzled her head into her neck.

We had quickly figured out that the only way to calm the toddler when she woke in this sort of mood was Jane. All we had to do was lay her down with Jane and everything seemed to be okay again. She had bonded with Jane instantly, something that didn't make sense to either of us. Apart from our hair colour, I was physically exactly like her mother. I tried not to think of the reasons why Imogen wasn't inclined to reach out for someone who resembled her mother. I couldn't handle the thought of Kate getting her parenting techniques from our parents.

"What time is your family coming over?" I asked Jane quietly as I watched her lovingly stroke Imogens back, trying to calmly get her back to sleep. She wasn't listening to me at all. She continued her rhythmic stroking on the babys back as she pressed light kisses to the blonde locks before her. It had only been a week but they had bonded so quickly. I tried not to worry about it. She wasn't Janes to keep.

"Hey do you remember what time Ma is coming over?" She asked in a hushed whisper, and I couldn't fight the smile that came on to my lips as I lay back down beside her. I shook my head. After another half an hour of Jane trying to settle her, she gave up, pulling Imogen back lightly to see the little girl smiling up at her. "You are so cheeky." Jane chuckled, shaking her head as she got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" I asked, frowning at the sudden loss of her warm body beside me. She smiled as she moved Imogen to rest on her hip

"Sleep, I'll entertain her for a bit." Jane told me before she pressed kisses to Imogens neck over and over again, eliciting loud shrieks of happiness from the blonde toddler. I wanted to argue and get up and make them both breakfast, but there was no way I was going to be able to sustain lunch with the Rizzolis without a few more hours sleep under my belt.

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**Janes POV  
**"Um, Jane?" I heard my youngest brothers voice echo through the living room. I stood up, merely throwing the rest of Mauras Tupperware back into the draw Imogen had pulled them from earlier. "I don't know if you know this…" Tommy started, clearly confused about whatever it was he was trying to tell me. "But there's a kid in Mauras living room." I laughed as I made my way toward him, clapping my hands excitedly as I took my eight month old nephew from his arms, pressing kisses all over his chubby little face.

"We're babysitting." I pointed out, having no idea how else to describe what we were doing with Imogen. "For a few weeks." I added, in hopes I wouldn't have to explain why she's still around if she still is in a few weeks.

"She looks like Maura." Tommy pointed out as Imogen looked up at him. He smiled as he sat down across from her, playing with some of the lids I had left out for her.

"It's her sisters kid." I told him, trying to make sure I remembered everything I told him so I didn't give each of my family members different stories to explain the toddlers sudden presence in our lives.

"Where is Maura?" He asked, looking around the room as he noted she hadn't yet appeared to steal TJ from me. I grabbed the play mat Maura had bought for Imogen, laid it out on the carpet and placed my nephew underneath the dangling plastic.

"Sleeping." I said casually as my mother and other brother walked through the front door. I wanted to remind them to knock, but every other time I had, Maura had told me not to be ridiculous. She had fast become an important member of our close little family. "This is Imogen." I started before either of them had a chance to ask questions. "She's Mauras sisters daughter, we're looking after her for a while." They both looked completely confused at the way I had thrown the information at them before even saying hello.

"Hi baby." My mother said with a smile as she walked over to me, pressing a messy kiss to my cheek. I could feel her lipstick on my skin even after she pulled away, and I automatically began rubbing my face.

"I'm going to go wake Maura. Can you watch her?" I asked, looking between each of my family members, all of which smiled and nodded at me. When I got to the bedroom, it was still dark, the block out curtains making it seem far later in the day than it was. The dim light made it hard to not lie down. I walked over to where Maura was lying, bending down so my face was level with hers.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I smiled at myself as I closed my mouth and just let myself look at her. Her blonde hair was covering half her face, mascara from the previous day lingered under her eyes as she slept. Her lips were pouted slightly. She looked beautiful. Her breathing was so calm, so even. How could I possibly have woken her? I sighed, leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before standing and leaving her to sleep some more.

It was 3pm by the time Maura emerged from the bedroom, completely dressed with her hair and makeup looking meticulous, and nothing like she had hours earlier. She still looked just as beautiful, it was just a more put together version of my best friend She had a deep frown on her face as she pointed toward me. I raised my eyebrows, pulling the best innocent face I could as I made Imogen stand up on my lap, hiding my face behind her. She beamed up at Maura, extending her arms towards her aunty excitedly.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Maura complained in a happy voice as she lifted Imogen out of my arms and held her tight against her chest. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to tell her that I went into the bedroom and tried to wake her twice, but couldn't do it.

"You can get up with her tomorrow morning and let me sleep all day to punish me if you like." I said with a smirk, knowing she wouldn't have caught onto the fact I was half joking. She smiled and nodded, seeming to find that plan a suitable punishment somehow.

"Has everyone left?!" She asked, dropping her free hand down to her side, stomping her foot lightly as she did so. I nodded as I moved to place the leftover dishes into the dishwasher, my back cracking as I bent down. When I stood up, I was receiving another slight glare from my best friend. "Come here." She said as she moved to sit on the sofa, placing Imogen on the floor beside her. I sat down in front of her, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Oh my god." I moaned as she began massaging my back, every tension in my body releasing as she pressed harder and harder. I let my head fall back when she stopped, earning a quiet giggle from the woman behind me. My head rested comfortably in her lap and another moan escaped my lips as she began massaging my temple.

"Jane…" She said quietly and I instinctively shot my head back up, smiling as I looked down at Imogen who was fast asleep on the carpet with a Tupperware lid as her pillow.

"She's so cute it's disgusting." I laughed quietly, sighing as I moved to sit beside Maura and admire the blonde girl on the floor.

"You know we can't keep her." Maura said quietly but seriously.

"I know." I laughed, trying to disguise the fact that I was secretly praying and hoping that Kate would never come collect her daughter. It had been a week and I was ready to call her my own. She was perfect in every way.

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**Mauras POV  
**"Do you want to have that talk we've both been avoiding for the past week?" I whispered into the dark bedroom, knowing by Janes breathing that she was awake staring at the ceiling exactly as I was.

"Do we really have to?" She asked nervously, her head dropping to the left so she could look me in the eye. She had a small playful smile on her face, but I knew the longer we avoided it, the worse it would get.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked, both of us speaking in hushed voices as Imogen slept in the crib two metres from the bed. She nodded slowly, butterflies filling my stomach as I tried to process what this exactly meant for us. "I spent the past three months convincing myself not only that I was straight, but that I did not feel the way I thought I did about you. best friend. You're not supposed to look down your best friends shirt when she bends down." I started, beginning to ramble nervously. "Or ask her to get things from shelves just to admire her body. Or stare at her while you think she's sleeping…" Her eyes widened, knowing I had caught her earlier. "But we do it, all of it." She nodded, biting down on her bottom lip as she turned her whole body in my direction. I followed her movement, our bodies inches apart.

"Maura…" I couldn't quite figure out what it was behind her voice that made my body break out in goosebumps, and I didn't care.

"Things are complicated." I said quickly, stopping her before she said anything she would later regret. "Really, really complicated." I added, sitting up slightly to look over to the crib. She didn't say anything for what felt like forever. The quiet was killing me.

"Let me show you how simple it is." She said suddenly, and before I had a chance to even wait for a response, her lips were against mine. My eyes drifted closed, my whole body relaxed as I felt her hand move to lightly rest on my hip. "Nothing..." She whispered before pressing another light kiss to my lips. "About how I feel about you…" Another kiss. "Is complicated." Her last kiss was longer, harder. Her tongue brushed lightly against my bottom lip, making my whole body turn to jelly.

"Okay." Was all I was able to whisper before she moved closer, pulling my body until my head was resting against her chest. As if on cue, Imogen began to cry.

"Don't." Jane whispered when I tried to pull away to go and pick the little girl up. "Give her a second." She added, her grip loosening as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block the sound of her crying out of my head. After no more than three minutes, the crying turned into mild whimpering and then just… stopped.

"Why didn't you make me do that at the start of the week?" I whispered quietly, poking her in the stomach and earning a quiet chuckle from her.

"Because I liked holding her." She admitted. "But I like holding you more." She added, pressing another light kiss to my forehead.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Mauras POV  
**I had never in my life taken a day off. Nine years of medical school and I did not miss one class or one day. Six months of working as a medical examiner; never have I not shown up or called in sick; Until today, and I wasn't even sick.

"Maura, get up." Janes loud, dominant voice came from beside me, her hands on both my shoulders shaking me until I shot up, staring at her with wide, concerned eyes. She had Imogen resting on her hip, and she looked worse than I had ever seen a toddler look. Her eyes were red and inflamed, she had mucus all around her nose and she was flushed red.

"What happened?" I asked, reaching out to take the little girl from Jane. Imogen let out an ear piercing scream the second I pried her out of Janes hands. I placed my hand against the struggling girls forehead, her skin warmer than usual against my hand. "We have to take her to the doctor." I told her, earning a frown in return.

"You're a doctor." She pointed out, smiling smugly as she nodded toward the baby girl in our- in my bed. I picked Imogen up and placed her back in the safety of Janes arms, her crying instantly stopping as she felt Janes strong arms around her.

I took her temperature for reference and called in to get the day off work. I knew if I had left her with Jane all day I would just spend my time worrying and calling home every half an hour. I wasn't going anywhere today, and thankfully, it was Janes day off.

"I have to pee." Jane announced, crossing her legs where she stood as she tried to hold it in. I couldn't fight the small giggle that escaped my lips at the sight before me. I reached out for Imogen, and surprisingly, she suddenly came to me with ease. Jane smiled at the sight of us before she ran toward the bathroom.

"Come on, honey." I whispered, kissing Imogens forehead slightly as she placed her thumb in her mouth. On any other day, I would have pulled her hand away, but not today. Today she could do whatever she wanted so long as it kept her calm. I bent down to place her on her childrens sofa in the living room, and her ear piercing scream as I did so echoed in my head as I stood back up. She buried her head in my neck and grabbed onto my nightgown harder than she ever had before. I shouldn't have liked the feeling it gave me as much as I did. I had a feeling our day was very much going to consist of passing her backwards and forth between the two of us.

"What smells so good?" Jane asked as she walked into the kitchen, still in her pyjamas, her hair a mess. She had never looked more like the woman I wanted to spend my life with.

"We're making bunny pancakes." Jane rolled her eyes at my words as she took Imogen out of my arms, giving me both my hands back. She moved to sit on the carpet, still in my view as she stood Imogen up on both of her own feet in front of her. It was pouring down rain, and I sincerely hoped the calming sound that was filling the apartment would help Imogen rest for at least part of the day. Just as the thought passed through my mind; a loud crack of thunder shook the house, the windows rattling at the sudden noise. I rolled my eyes at myself as my whole body jumped.

"Maura…" Janes voice came quietly from behind me. I turned around to see Imogen standing with wide eyes, completely still as she stared at the large windows in the living room. Janes face softened as the little girls bottom lip started to quiver. Then, as if she had been doing it her whole life, Imogen took six steps and closed the distance between her and I, grabbing onto my leg as loud sobs escaped her little chest. I moved the pan off of the stove, turned it off and bent down and lifted her back into my arms.

"You're okay." I whispered in the most comforting voice I could manage as I turned to face Jane who was still sitting on the floor with a look on her face I had never seen before. "What?" I asked with a frown, my hand moving to the back of Imogens head, softly holding her in place as I rocked my body backwards and forth.

"She just walked." Jane pointed out, my eyes widening as I realised what I had actually just happened. "She walked to you so you could comfort her." Jane added, smiling affectionately at us as she stood up and made her way towards us.

"I love her." I giggled, closing my eyes as Janes arms wrapped around the both of us, her lips pressing lightly to the side of my head before Imogen moved to push her away, causing both of us to laugh quietly. "She loves me most." I joked playfully.

"I think she does." Jane added seriously, making my heart flutter in my chest.

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**Mauras POV  
**"I might call a doctor to come check her out just in case." I whispered into the dimly lit living room as the day began to come to a close. Jane nodded, looking down at the toddler who was lying flat on her stomach on the carpet with one of Janes childhood teddy's in her arms. As I stood, Imogen followed me and wrapped her arms around my left leg in the same way she did when she took her first steps this morning. "Mommy just has to make a phone…" I stopped halfway through my sentence, my eyes slowly making their way to look at Jane in hopes she hadn't hear me. She was looking directly at me.

"Maura…" Jane whispered a heartbroken expression all over her face as she came over and took Imogens hand, removing her from my leg in turn.

"It was an accident." I said, holding my hand up to tell her to let it go. There was nothing behind it. People say things all the time without realising what they're saying. Right?

"Come on, let's go watch Lion King." Jane said to Imogen as she scooped her up into her arms, pressing kisses to her stomach and earning the first giggle of Imogens I had heard all day. The mere sound of her laughter made my heart ache.

"Hello?" I heard the familiar voice come from the other end of the telephone line, and I took a deep breath before I forced a smile on my face. Studies show that if you smile when you speak, your voice tends to sound more cheerful.

"Hey, it's me." I said casually, feeling like an idiot as I smiled out the window at the torrential rain outside. "Imogen has a really bad fever and I can't seem to bring it down no matter what I try, can you come check her out?"

"You're a doctor, Maura." She sounded so condescending it made me want to hang up right there and then. "But if you need a second opinion about a _fever…._" I closed my eyes, the smile disappearing from my face before I spoke.

"I'm asking for you to come and check that your granddaughter is okay because her mother won't answer her phone even though I've left her six voicemails and I am a little bit scared." I said factually, the silence that followed told me Kate had certainly not told our mother that she had not called _once _in the past two months to see if her daughter was okay.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes." My mother said quietly before she hung up, leaving me annoyed, frustrated and now, worried. I just asked my mother to come over. While Janes here. With Imogen.

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**Janes POV  
**"Okay, I should have told you before now." Maura said suddenly, making me jump as I lay on the sofa with Imogen sprawled out across my body, fast asleep for the first time all day. "The doctor that will be here in…" The knock on the front door cut her off, and her eyes widened as she looked between Imogen and I over and over again. "I'm so sorry for what is about to happen. Just remember how much you love me, okay?" I could not have been more confused than I was right then as she made her way to the front door. I placed a hand lightly on the side of the babys head that was facing upwards, more desperate than ever to keep her sleeping.

"Is she okay?" The unfamiliar voice sounded so much like Mauras I almost sat up to get a better view, but the weight on my chest kept me grounded. "Oh." An older, blonde woman who could have easily been Mauras mother stood before me, hands moving to rest on her hips at the sight of me.

"Jane…" Maura started, her eyes pleading with me to be polite. "This is my mother, Hope. Mother, this is Jane." I felt my heart sink into the pits of my chest at her words. Oh, this was going to be interesting.

"Can I have my granddaughter please." I knew it was a statement, not a question as she made her way toward me, not once looking at me as she moved to pick Imogen up.

"We have been trying to get her settled _all_ day." I told her, moving my hand from the side of the little girls head to rest on her back, holding her against me protectively. "So, no." I knew I was out of line, but the fact this woman couldn't pick up the phone _once _in the past two months to check on Imogen made me more angry than I can ever remember anything ever making me.

"Excuse me?" She asked with a horrified look on her face as Maura appeared beside her, placing a hand on her mothers forearm lightly. The older woman sighed as she bent down until she was eye level with a sleeping Imogen. She did her exam without waking her, thankfully, and before I knew it, she had pulled Maura into the kitchen and all I heard for the next fifteen minutes were hushed insults.

It was another twenty minutes after that before I heard the front door close, and another fifteen after that for Maura to reappear in the living room. I chose not to comment on her puffy eyes.

"We think it's just the flu, she should be okay in a day or two." She said quietly as she stood before me, her arms crossed defensively across her chest. I knew the day needed to end right now.

"Come on." I whispered as I carefully stood up, carrying Imogen to her crib and pressing a light kiss to her forehead, silently begging her to sleep through until morning. When I turned around, Maura was curled up in a ball on her side of the bed. I wouldn't have found it odd if she weren't still wearing her clothes and heels. "Hey…" I said quietly as I peeled the shoes off her feet and let them drop the carpeted floor quietly.

"I'm sorry." I could barely hear her, but the tone of her voice made me feel as though someone had stabbed a scalpel straight into my heart.

"Don't you dare." I told her, pulling her until her head was rested in the crook of my neck. She shuffled her whole body closer, draping an arm around my stomach as she griped onto my shirt the same way her niece did.

"I called myself her mommy today." She pointed out, no hint of amusement in her voice what so ever. I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "And I liked it." I closed my eyes, not knowing what I was supposed to say in this type of scenario.

"You told me we can't keep her…" Was all I could get out as she sighed loudly, groaning as she shook her head, standing up and storming out of the room, leaving me wondering what the hell I had said wrong.

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**Mauras POV  
**I banged hard on the blue front door in front of me. When a minute passed without answer, I banged harder and more frequently until I heard the bolt on the other side of the door open.

"What the hell are you doing?" My sisters tired voice came from in front of me. Her question made me furious, and I could feel the fire starting to build inside of me.

"Your daughter was sick today." I started. She closed her eyes and she bought a hand to her face, covering her eyes. "I had to take the day off work. Jane also took the day off work so we could both be there if she needed us." I yanked her hand away from her face. There was no way she was ignoring me. "I even called mom to come make sure she was okay because Imogens selfish, disgusting excuse for a mother couldn't be bothered to answer her god damn phone." My voice was lined with venom and I fought with everything inside me not to burst into tears. I was exhausted. I didn't want to have to ask her to Imogen back. The longer we had her, the harder I wanted her to stay forever.

"Dad was shot today." She said quietly as she stepped out of her apartment, closing the door behind her as she did so. "I've been preocuiped."

"When I leave you a voicemail saying your daughter is ill and needs to see her mother… You blew your daughter off for _him?_" I couldn't believe what I had just heard. She looked guilty as she moved her hand to softly rub the back of her neck.

"Let us keep her." Janes voice came from beside me, making me jump in shock.

"Who the hell is with Imogen?!" I asked her, my fire still burning strong. She placed a hand softly on my lower back reassuringly.

"My mother is with her." Jane said looking directly at Kate as she spoke. "Let us keep her."

"Jane don't she can't just give us…."

"Okay." Kate said, nodding slowly. My eyebrows raised as I turned to look at my twin sister. "Maura…" She started, tears welling in her eyes as I caught the first glimpse of anything human that lived inside of my sister.

"If you give her to us you can not take her back." I told her, part of me knowing that if we agreed that Jane and I would look after her, Kate would show up in three years time with a husband and a changed mind.

"You're a police officer, how do you go about adopting a kid?" She asked, looking directly at a stunned Jane, who I could only assume had no expectation of Kate agreeing to her proposition.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Janes POV  
**"We're not adopting her, Maura." I kept my voice as calm and composed as I could as I sat across from her in my mother's kitchen. She nodded slowly, clearly working through her thoughts before she opened her mouth. Something I should really learn to do.

"Why did you suggest it?" She asked, looking at me with wide eyes that were full of confusion and questions. I knew I deserved every question she threw at me. It was me who put the idea in everyones heads, and I'm now the one who doesn't want to do it. I know for Maura of all people; that would be the hardest part to grasp.

"Because I thought if Kate thought someone else wanted her baby; she would want her." Mauras brow tightened as her eyes dropped back to her hands that were holding the cup of green tea my mother had made her. I wasn't kidding when I gave her my reasoning behind offering to take in Imogen full time. I never once considered the option that Kate may actually want to give her daughter to her sister who she hasn't seen in ten years.

"I'll do it myself." Maura said in a hushed voice as she pushed away from the table and picked Imogen up off of the living room floor where she was playing with my mother.

"If you walk out of this house I'm not going to chase you, Maura." I told her, not moving from my place at the dining table as she began grabbing all of Imogens toys and shoving them into the diaper bag. I couldn't stand the fact that anytime we had any sort of disagreement, her first instinct was to run.

"I wouldn't expect you to." She snapped, my mother watching on silently and awkwardly from the floor. I nodded and rolled my eyes, pulling my car keys out of my pocket and shaking them so they made a loud clinking sound. She stopped what she was doing and placed a hand on the hip that wasn't holding Imogen. "Give me your keys." I laughed and placed them back in my pocket without hesitation.

"Sit down." I instructed her, and after a few moments of hesitation, she did. She placed Imogen on her leg and bounced her lightly to keep her slightly entertained. I knew it wouldn't work for long, so I grabbed Mauras phone that was sitting on the table and placed it in Imogens waiting hands. "Why do you have to jump straight to adoption?" I asked seriously, earning a glare. "Why can't you… Why can't we just keep her exactly as we have been?"

"Why did you suggest adoption if you hate the idea so much!?" She yelled, causing my mother to instantly walk over and lift the little girl out of her lap.

"I already told you." I reminded her, forcing myself to keep calm, knowing if I let my emotions get the better of me for even a split second, she would leave and I would not follow her. She merely shook her head at me as she bought her hands to her face.

"Are you coming home with us tonight?" She asked with a sigh, her facial expression telling me she was over having this conversation for now.

"I have to go get some more clothes from my place, but yeah." I said simply, choosing not to push the conversation any further. We sat in silence for a few moments before the sound of Imogen letting out an excited, happy squeal followed by my mothers loud laugh from the other room filled our ears. As hard as we both fought, we both broke out into laughter at the sound. Apart from Mauras voice, nothing had ever given me goosebumps the way Imogen laughing did.

"Things can stay the same." She said as her laughter began to fade. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes, smiling softly as she moved to sit on my lap. "I just… I love that little girl, Jane." I merely nodded, completely understanding her point of view as I wrapped my arms around her middle, breathing in her scent while she pressed light kisses to the top of my head.

"Let's get our girl and go home." I whispered, leaning up to press my lips against hers. Her hand moved to the back of my head to hold me in place when I tried to pull away. "We're at my mothers." I reminded her between kisses that got more and more heated as they progressed. She smirked at me before pressing one more kiss to my lips.

"Let's go home."

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**Mauras POV  
**"Mom!" The sound echoed in my head as I stood completely bewildered at the now 18 month old that was standing in front of me. Jane pursed her lips and smiled, looking at me expectantly. What are you supposed to say to a child that age to make them understand? Nothing.

"Yes, sweetheart?" I said, my voice straining as I forced the words out of my mouth. We sat in the park across from the BPD, having a quiet lunch while Jane was on her break. There was so much going on in my family this week that I had decided to take the week off and devote all of my energy to Imogen.

"There! There!" The little girl exclaimed, her finger extending to point toward the swings. Jane looked down at the watch on her wrist before she put the plastic tub in her hands in my lap. Before I knew it, she was running toward Imogen, lifting her off the ground and running towards the swings.

"Be careful." I laughed as Imogens laugh echoed through the small inner city park. I took pleasure in the quiet moment I got to myself. Most of my days consisted of taking care of Imogen and some days, taking care of Jane. My father was coming back into town today and I had agreed to let him spend some time with Imogen and myself, though I highly doubted that Imogen would remember him at all by this point.

I was worried about seeing him, considering the last I had heard, he had been severely injured and I had not yet called to see if he was okay. All I did was email him and organise a time and place for him to see his granddaughter. I wouldn't have even done that if it weren't for Kate pestering me every day until I did do it.

We had finally decorated the guest bedroom according to how I assumed most toddlers had their rooms decorated. It was strange, thinking my guest bedroom was now a full time bedroom to a tiny human. Before Imogen I never even considered having children. She was something else, that's for sure. She was the smartest, funniest, most adorable little girl I had ever laid my eyes. I was completely and totally in love with her.

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**Mauras POV  
**Today was the day. We had kissed Jane goodbye, made breakfast and were now waiting patiently for my father to come knocking on the front door. I had made more of an effort to make everything presentable than was probably necessary. I don't know why I felt the need to convince him I was doing good with Imogen. What he thought meant nothing. Or so I told myself.

"You both look beautiful" Jane had assured me before she left for work, yet I felt the need to check Imogen for stains and spills once more before… On cue, he knocked on the door.

"Oh god." I said under my breath as I walked straight to the door, knowing if I hesitated for even a second I never would have opened that door again. He stood before me silently, a bandage on his right shoulder visible just under the top of his shirt. "Come in." Was all I said as I opened the door further and moved to the side to let him walk inside.

"Hi baby." He said lovingly as he picked a cautious Imogen off the dining room floor. She pulled away from him slightly and looked from his face to mine. I forced the happiest, most encouraging smile I could, but it wasn't enough. She reached her arms out towards me, a shocked and defeated expression coming across my fathers face as he let me take her off of him. I placed her straight back on the floor where she stood behind my legs reluctantly.

"It's strange that she doesn't remember you." I said sarcastically as his eyes drifted shut for a few seconds at the truth behind my words. "Anyone would think she hasn't seen you in seven months." I laughed, taking her hand and leading her to the living room where I sat down with her, placing a doll in her hands.

"Kate mentioned you're adopting…"

"No." I stopped him sharply, looking up to meet his eyes. "We're just her full time caregivers." His eyes widened slightly at the word _we._

"Jane lives here?" He asked, his eyes looking around the living room and noticing the many photographs of Jane, Imogen and I that hung on the walls and mantels.

"She has her own place, but she may as well live here; yes." I told him, no emotion behind my words whatsoever. I hated that he felt he could disappear for however long he pleased and then show up and expect to know every aspect of my personal life. "What happened to your shoulder?"

"Hows work?" He asked, ignoring my question and clearly grasping at straws as he tried to find a conversation starter that wouldn't end in me shooting him down completely.

"It's good." He groaned at my two word answer and Imogen looked up to find the source of the loud, unfamiliar sound. She frowned at him before going back to what she was doing. "You're here to see Imogen, so how about you get down on the floor and make an effort with her?" I suggested, not moving from my place beside her, knowing if I did she would just follow me. He nodded and took a seat next to me.

After an hour, Imogen had finally warmed up to her grandfather enough to let him hold her. Anytime I saw anyone play with her or make her laugh, I couldn't fight the smiles that found their way onto my lips. But seeing my father play with her just made my stomach turn. As her primary care giver, I hated knowing people were thinking it's okay to come and go from her life. It was confusing and unfair. She deserved so much better.

"Jane's going to be home in ten minutes." I warned him, giving him the option of staying and meeting her, or leaving. Of course, he chose the latter. "Listen to me." I said to him sternly from the front door. "There will be no coming and going from her life as you please. If you want to see her, call me and organise something. But don't expect for it to be okay for you to come once a month. She deserves stability." As soon as the words had left my mouth, a strange feeling washed over me.

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Mauras POV  
"You became her mom today." Jane told me as we lay in bed, her head resting on my chest as I told her all about the afternoon Imogen and I had had. "How did it feel?" She asked, looking up at me, making me smile as she placed a light kiss on my chin.

"It felt amazing." I admitted, remembering the overwhelming sense of protection and love I felt this afternoon. "You're amazing." I added, sliding my body down until my face was level with Janes. "What are we doing?" I asked, tilting my head slightly to rest on the pillow.

"I think we're lying in bed." She said with a playful smile as I rolled my eyes at her words. "We've been together for a long time now, and we still haven't been on one date." She laughed, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

"Take me on a date." I told her, using the tone of my voice to let her know it was a statement, not a question.

"God, are you going to be this bossy for the rest of our lives?" She asked, and somehow her little backhanded comment left my whole stomach fluttering with butterflies.

"Are you taking me on a date or not?" I giggled, bringing my hand to rest on her cheek, my thumb stroking lightly as I awaited her answer.

"Can I take you on a date tomorrow night?" She asked sweetly, her voice becoming shy as she looked all around my face. I closed my eyes and giggled like a sixteen year old girl as I nodded yes, pulling her face into mine and covering every inch of her face in kisses.

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**Maybe don't be rude and condescending in reviews when you've got no clue what my plans are for my stories. I'd really appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Janes POV  
**"Maybe I should call and make sure she's okay." I pondered, biting down on my bottom lip as I sat across from Maura in a small booth at her favourite restaurant. They were booked out weeks in advance, but it's amazing what becomes available when someone accidentally catches a glimpse of my badge.

"Finish eating, then you can call." Maura compromised, smiling sweetly at me as she had another bite of her pasta. I pouted in defeat and continued eating the food that sat in front of me. "I hope she and TJ are getting along" She said before she took a sip of her red wine, making me smile as I realised all of our conversation topics tonight had been about the baby.

"It's our first night baby-free in months and she's all we can talk about." I pointed out, making both of us laugh quietly. "You look really beautiful." I added, looking up at her and taking in her soft, luminous face as I spoke. She wore a dark shade of red lipstick and a light blush that complimented her skin tone perfect. She was perfect.

"You look beautiful." She redirected my compliment back at me, making me look down at the table that my elbows rested on, smiling shyly as I tried not to argue with her. It was the first time I'd worn a dress in a long time, and the first time in a _really _long time that I was wearing makeup. I had never seen my mother so excited to see me as she was when we dropped Imogen off. I don't think she could even remember the last time I wore a dress without needing weeks of encouragement beforehand.

"I've been thinking about us a lot lately." She started, reaching across the table to let her fingers lazily trace a pattern across the back of my left hand.

"What have you been thinking?" I asked, my heart racing in my chest at the mere thought of this beautiful woman thinking about me, let alone _us._

"I was thinking that we became a family before we even went on our first date." I laughed at the truth in her words. "And I want to do something for _us._" She accentuated the term us again, and again, my heart began to race. "Move in with us." My racing heart suddenly skipped a beat and I had to cough, covering my mouth with both my hands. She looked at me with a playful smile. "You offered to adopt a child with me, and when I offer for you to move in you panic?" She asked, kicking me lightly under the table.

"This is a huge thing, Maura." I warned her as I placed my hands back on the table before me. She rolled her eyes, and I knew she was going to remind me of my offer to her sister. "It means I will be around all the time, are you sure you're ready for that?"

"I have been ready since the moment I laid eyes on you." She said, making me smile shyly at the sweet woman before me. I suddenly saw images of white picket fences and carpooling. I saw my life.

"Do you know when your parents are coming to see her again?" I asked, intertwining the fingers of both of my hands together as I leant forward and rest my hands on the backs of my hands. She shook her head, not saying a word as she finished her meal. "I don't understand how you can be part of that family and yet be so different to them." I told her, examining her face and really thinking about the differences between her and the rest of her family. If her twin wasn't exactly like their parents, I'd assume Maura was adopted.

"I've been trying to come up with a hypothesis as to why that is, too." She told me with a faint smile as she placed her fork down onto her plate. "My mother is the only reason I can seem to settle on." She said with a slight shrug. I frowned as I recalled the first, and last, time I had met Mauras mother and was more confused than before.

"She is mean and rude. You are…"

"She is protective of the people she loves. Both of my parents are." She corrected me, raising her eyebrows slightly as everything started to slowly make sense. "They protect me the way I want to spend my life protecting you." Again, she shrugged lightly, clearly unaware of the effect her words were having on my stomach as butterflies rolled through it.

"Are you ready to get our girl and go home?" I asked, smiling affectionately at her as she looked down at her hands before slowly letting her eyes make their way to mine without moving her head.

"Since it's your birthday tomorrow; I was thinking we could go home alone tonight." I was confused by her words, but the way she licked her bottom lip after she spoke told me all I needed to know. "Do you think your mother would watch Imogen over night?" She wondered quietly, extending her leg under the table to softly run the toe end of her shoe along my thigh. I cleared my throat and nodded, pulling my phone out of my pocket as I stood up and offered Maura my hand.

She giggled quietly as she accepted the gesture, taking my hand and following me to the car.

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**Mauras POV  
**"Okay, you have to be quiet." I reminded Imogen as I walked as silently as I could into the bedroom. Imogen nodded excitedly, covering her mouth with both of her hands, making me smile as I gently placed her on the bed beside Jane. "Happy birthday!" I exclaimed as Imogen stood to her feet and began jumping on the bed, landing directly on top of Janes now awake body.

"Hey." She laughed, her voice huskier than usual as she pulled Imogen into her lap, sitting up and covering the toddler in kisses until she wriggled herself away.

"Happy birthday." I said affectionately as I bent down and pressed my lips against hers, both my hands lightly holding her face in place as I placed thirty kisses all over her beautiful olive toned face. She sighed contently as I placed the last kiss against her pulse point on her neck, pursing my lips as I noted a small red mark from the night before that still lingered on her neck. "Your family is in the living room." I told her, making her roll her eyes as she got out of bed, lifting Imogen onto her hip as she did so.

"I made you bunny pancakes!" Angelas voice echoed through the kitchen as we walked out of the bedroom, making me giggle slightly as Jane jumped at the sudden sound.

"Can you take her?" Jane asked me, and without hesitation I took Imogen from her arms. As I did so, Jane leaned in and pressed her lips against mine, letting them linger there a few seconds to ensure her mother and brothers caught sight of what was happening. "It's easier than having the conversation." She said out loud as I cautiously looked around the room at the unsurprised face.

"Okay, can someone at least _act _surprised?" I said with a frown as I placed Imogen on the living room floor, Tommy looking up at me from the sofa, his mouth half full of toast.

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed in fake horror, making me giggle a lot harder than I anticipated as I sat down beside him, watching Imogen walk over to where TJ was sitting and press a kiss to his forehead before she turned and made her way towards Jane again. I instinctively turned my body to watch where she was heading. Babies in the kitchen made me more anxious than necessary.

"Mama. Mama. Mamaaaa!" Imogen repeated over and over again until Jane got off the stool she was sitting on and picked her up, placing her in her lap as she sat back down and broke up a pancake, leaving it on the plate in front of her for Imogen to pick at as she pleased.

"Did she just…" Angela started, looking between Jane and myself in shock.

"She does it a lot." Jane said casually. We were so used to hearing Imogen refer to both Jane and I as mom and mama that it wasn't a big deal to us at all. I didn't seem to strike Jane that her mother was hearing a child call her daughter Ma for the first time. "What?" Jane asked as she looked up at her mothers face, noting the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. Frankie looked at me with concern, none of us entirely sure where this was headed.

"We correct her but she…" I started, wondering how I could help.

"I'm so proud of you." Angela said quietly as she moved to Janes side, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and holding her tight against her before she made her way to me. I instinctively stood up and let her wrap her arms around my middle. "I'm proud of you, too." She whispered to me, my eyes drifting close at the sound of words I had never in my life heard before.

"Are we ever going to get an honest explanation about all this?" Tommy asked casually as I sat back down beside him, Jane bringing Imogen into the living room and sitting her on my lap with my cell phone in her hands as she did so.

"It's extremely complicated…" I started, hoping that that would be enough for them to not as any questions.

"No, it's not." Jane said, cutting me off before I had the chance to continue. "Mauras sister couldn't handle having a child, so she asked Maura to take her."

"So that's why you all but live here now?" Tommy asked with a smirk on his face, and it was clear he wasn't asking about Imogen at all.

"I live here because this is where my family is." Jane said simply, leaning across Imogen and I to punch her brother in the arm. I was about to chastise Jane for using physical violence before my phone started ringing in Imogens hands. Her eyes widened as she looked up at me, offering me the phone with a little smile.

"Dr Isles." I said into the phone, and I closed my eyes at the news that I was needed to come examine and extract a body from a crime scene. "I'll be right there." I hung up and looked at Jane with a frown.

"I'm not on call." She laughed as I groaned and pushed my body off the sofa, kissing _my _little girls forehead before I bid my family goodbye, heading off to work.

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**Janes POV  
**"Come on, we're going for a run." I looked up at Maura who was fully dressed in her work out gear later that day, Imogen on her hip with a pink exercise band around her forehead, it was impossible not to laugh.

"How do plan on running with a toddler in your arms?" I questioned as I continued sipping on my coffee, making no effort to get up off the comfortable sofa.

"Oh, I bought a jogging buggy." She said casually as she took the coffee cup out of my hand; a dangerous move for so early in the morning. I raised my eyebrows as before she opened the front door, revealing a pram that looked like the most ridiculously expensive thing she had ever bought. "The wheels are aligned especially for the average pace a woman runs." She said excitedly as she came back inside and threw the rest of my coffee down the kitchen sink.

"Maura it's my birthday and it's late. You can't make me exercise on my birthday." I complained, dropping my hands down loudly on the sofa in protest.

"Fine, little baby Imogen and I will go running alone at night through the dark park where…"

"Okay!" I exclaimed, silently begging her to stop. "We'll go for your damn run. Fuck!" I exclaimed as I kicked my little toe hard against the coffee table.

"Fuck!" Imogens sweet little copied me, my eyes widening as I avoided looking at Maura. I knew I was in trouble for this one.

"Don't say anything to her, if we react she'll know it gets a reaction. Go get dressed." Maura said sternly, and without another word of argument I did as I was told.

"Fuck!" I heard Imogen exclaim excitedly from the living room. I was definitely in trouble.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Janes POV  
**"So we have no viable fingerprints?" I asked in frustration as I looked at my partner who sat at the desk directly across from me. Frost shook his head slowly. "And the license plate was a dead end too?" He again, shook his head. "And our number one witness just left the country." He switched to nodding this time. "So basically we have nothing." He kept nodding, a loud groan escaping my chest as I let my head fall backwards as I tried to think of something, _anything _that would help us catch this guy.

"I'm going to go back to the crime scene, maybe we missed something." Frost sighed, standing and pulling his blazer on. We dealt with our frustration in different ways. I dealt by either going down to the morgue and seeing Maura for half an hour, or by reading all I could about the victim until I had the motivation to work even harder to get the perp. Frost dealt by going back to crime scenes, back to interview suspects. We dealt in different ways, but we dealt with it together.

"I'll come with you." I said, pulling the address of the crime scene up on the computer in front of me.

"Nope." Frost said with a chuckle as he nodded toward the door, Maura standing there with an unimpressed expression on her face, Imogen beaming a bright smile at me as she struggled to be put down. "I'll call you if I get anything." Frost added before he walked past Maura. She stopped frowning long enough to give him a smile, but the second he was gone, she was back to glaring at me.

"Hi, baby!" I smiled, all the frustrations of my day melting away as I stood up and caught Imogen who ran straight into my arms. I lift her above my head, kissing all over her chubby face and neck, chuckling as her loud squeals of happiness echoed through the small room. "Why did you pick her up early? I'll probably have to work late tonight." I told Maura as I sat back down at my desk, Imogen in my lap as I locked the computer and let her bang away on the keyboard haphazardly.

"Because the day-care called me an hour ago and told me I had to come and collect her." Maura said, her voice thick with annoyance as she hit my shoulder with her handbag, making me jump at the sudden harsh contact. "She was walking around saying the f word all day and now all the kids are doing it!" She told me in a hushed whisper, and despite my best efforts, I laughed.

"I'm sorry." I said as I forced my laughed to stop, burying my face in Imogens hair as I tried to stop myself from high fiving the little girl. She wasn't even two years old and she was a bad influence on other kids. I was rubbing off on her way too much.

"Well can you watch her? I have an autopsy I can't push." She told me with a worried look on her face as she looked down at her watch, mentally calculating how much of her day she had already lost.

"Go, I'll take her to Ma, she'll organise something." I told her, and without another word Maura was gone. "I am in so much trouble later." I told the little girl who I lifted up onto my knee as I made my way into my boss' office. There was no way I was getting any work done today.

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**  
Janes POV  
**"What are you doing?!" Maura exclaimed as I walked into the autopsy room with Imogen in my arms. She scrambled to cover the open body in front of us both. "I can't stop today." She told me, still completely frustrated and flustered with how behind she had found herself today.

"I took the rest of the day off, this case is killing me." I told me casually, completely ignoring what she had just told me as she seemed to notice that Imogen was fast asleep in me arms. "I need some baby time." I added with an affectionate smile as I pressed light kisses to Imogens head. Her facial expression changed suddenly; softened.

"You should tell Frankie about the day-care incident." She told me, smiling softly. "He will find it hysterical." I could help but laugh, knowing she was right. I also was more than aware that this was her way of apologising for snapping at me earlier.

"We'll have dinner ready when you get home." I promised, holding Imogen close to my chest as I leant over the table and pressed my lips against her cheek, letting them linger on her skin a lot longer than neseccary, my wordless way of expression that I forgave her for an ill feelings.

When we got home, I set to work on dinner, preparing it early so I had time to spend the rest of the afternoon doing what I really wanted us to do.  
**  
**"We have to do something super cute." I said in the unfamiliar cheerful voice I had found myself using far too often these days. I sat at the dining room table, which was now completely covered in huge sheets of paper, Imogen comfortably on my lap as I lay out as many different colours of finger paints I could find. "I think I'm about to have just as much fun as you." I laughed as I prepared for the mess we were about to make.

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**Mauras POV  
**I could not have been more relieved to be home as I pulled into my stone driveway, my whole body relaxing at the sight of the lights on inside. I couldn't get inside faster.

"Jane?" I called out as I walked into the house, a lump growing in my throat at the sight before me. Everywhere I looked hung paintings that I could only assume Jane had helped Imogen paint. More than one of them had my name on them, and it was overwhelming. My heart felt as though it had swelled to twice its size in my chest cavity.

"No!" Jane exclaimed as she appeared in the living room suddenly, paint on her face and Imogen wrapped in a towel that was made to look like a dinosaur in her arms. "I wanted to surprise you." She said, stomping her foot as she groaned.

"How- How did you do all this in a few hours?" I asked breathlessly as I placed my handbag on the dining room table, trying to ignore a small paint stain on the expensive stained wood.

"Well giving you a home cooked dinner was the sacrifice." She laughed, nodding toward the kitchen bench where she had clearly started making something and had given up halfway through. "But, surprise." She said, her voice going up an octave as she held Imogen close to her face, both of them smiling at me so wide it made my stomach turn.

"This is…" I wanted to tell her how much I appreciated her effort, but no words were forming when I tried to speak. So instead, I cried. Janes eyes widened as she placed Imogen on the floor and told her to go play with her dolls.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean it up I just thought…" Jane started as she wrapped her arms around my body, holding me tightly. I closed my eyes as I realised that she thought I was mad.

"No. Don't ever clean any of this up." I told her, pulling back to look at the sweet blotches of pain strewed across paper around the living room. I was overwhelmed with love as I stood there looking at Jane, Imogen laughing at herself in the background as I leant forward and rest my forehead against hers.

"So you're okay?" She asked quietly with a slight chuckle. I looked across at the little girl dressed in her dragon towel and realised I had never felt so okay in all my life.

"I love you." I said, my eyes never leaving Imogen as I spoke.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Jane mused, turning her head to look at Imogen as she spoke. I giggled quietly, nodding before I looked back at her.

"I meant you." Her head shot back to me, her eyes wide for a moment before she looked at me with more love than any other human ever has. "I love _you._" I pressed my index fingertip against her chest lightly, smiling as I noted the blue paint on the tip of her nose. "Go have a shower, I'll organise dinner." She nodded wordlessly, pressing her lips lightly against mine before I moved to take her of Imogen.

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**Janes POV  
**I was usually so good at being able to tell if Maura was awake or asleep, but as I looked across at my girlfriends rising and falling chest, I was completely clueless.

"I love you." I whispered, her eyes opening the second the words left my mouth. She sighed contently, shuffling her body closer to mine as she held my face in her hand, her thumb lightly tracing over my prominent dimple.

"You don't have to say it because I did." Her voice quiet, and I could tell she genuinely believed I was merely saying it to her because she had said it to me earlier in the evening.

"No, I love you." I told her, taking her hand in mine and bringing it to my lips. "I love you." She giggled as I started kissing up her arm, murmuring I love you over and over again.

"Are you kidding me?!" Maura giggled as her phone began ringing loudly, echoing in the large bedroom. I continued kissing her neck, my hands starting to wander over her body as she picked up her cell phone. "Hello?" She was stifling a giggle as she spoke. Then suddenly, she pushed me away and was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Where? Okay. Yeah, Jane can watch her." She said turning to look at me. I nodded in response, completely bewildered.

"What?" I asked when she hung the phone up, her face blank. "Maura?" I asked, concern growing in my body at her still frame. "Baby, what happened?" I placed my hand on her lower back, rubbing slow circles as I waited for her response.

"My mother was… She was shot. Can you watch Imogen so I can go to the hospital?" She asked, completely emotionless as she spoke.

"I can get Ma to watch her if you want me to come and…"

"No. Please, just watch her. You being there will just make it worse." I knew she was right, so why did I felt a shot of pain shoot through my heart?

"Go." I said emotionlessly as I got up and walked into Imogens bedroom, snuggling up on the single bed we had placed in the room for nights exactly like these. I hated sleeping in our bedroom alone, and at least when I slept in Imogens room I was right there if she woke up. I was a paranoid parent. Guardian. A paranoid guardian.

"I'll call you." Maura whispered as she poked her head into the bedroom. I nodded, expecting her to come in and say goodbye to Imogen, but by the time I sat up and looked back at the door; she was gone.

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**Just a short little chapter this time! I want to take the time to thank all of you for being so incredibly supportive. I've been apprehensive about continuing this story but you all give me so much motivation! **

**Remember, if you have any one shots or even long term stories you'd like to read, let me know and I will almost certainly give them a go for you!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Mauras POV  
**"Where is she?" I asked my sister who was sitting on a black plastic hospital chair, her head in her hands even as I approached her. She shook her head slowly, my stomach dropping at the scenarios that began playing out in my head. "Where's Paddy?" I asked, and without saying a word, she pointed to the closed door in front of us. When I walked in the room, the sight before me knocked the air straight out of my lungs, my chest heaving forward slightly as I took in image of my mother hooked up to a ventilator. My father was sitting in the exact position my sister was out in the hall, my mothers hand placed in his.

"Come here." He said, his eyes red when he looked up at me, extending his free hand out to me. I would normally never show any sort of affection towards my father, but this wasn't just any day. I took his hand and stood beside him, looking over my mothers body, wondering if I would get in trouble if I read her chart. I descided it didn't matter, picking the folder up and reading exactly what I didn't want to read _no brain activity._"You didn't bring Imogen did you?" He asked, his voice gruff as he spoke.

"No, Jane stayed with her at home." I told him in a quiet voice, half expecting some back handed comment to be thrown my way at the mere mention of my girlfriends name.

"Go get her, she needs to see your mother." That was all it took for the first of my tears to start to burn my eyes. He stood up, still holding my hand and pulled my hard into his chest. My natural instinct was to make it end, so I placed my free hand on his chest and pushed with enough force to let him know I was not okay with how close he was. "I don't care." He whispered as his lips moved to my hair, pressing a kiss hard against my head.

"Don't." I begged, pushing until I knew it was pointless, instead choosing to just let myself go. Violent sobs escaped my chest as my knees went weak, my fathers strong arms the only things keeping me from becoming a mess on the floor.

It took me longer than I expected to compose myself, but once I was confident I could put my body weight on my feet without plummeting to the floor, I shoved him away from me, not at all thankful for the forced emotions I had just shown. I walked out of the room without looking back, sitting next to my sister who was now slouched back in her chair.

"He wants me to go get Imogen." I told her, biting down on the inside of my lip at the mention of the little girl. Any time I mentioned her around Kate I was always worried and expecting her to say she wants her little girl back. Thankfully, that never happened.

"She's going to die, isn't she?" Kate asked, turning to look at me now, her face full of every emotion I didn't know she was capable of feeling. I tried to think of the best way to word what needed to be said, and I opted with the most straight forward response.

"She's brain dead; she's already dead." The weight of my words hit my sister harder than I expected.

"Oh my god." She exclaimed, leaning forward to place her head back into hands, sobbing silently, her whole body shaking beside me. I was never close to my sister, so the mere notion of placing a hand on her in a comforting manner was out of the question.

"I want to adopt Imogen, officially." I told her, the realisation that I was losing my mother making me crave Imogens chubby hands around my neck more than ever. I wanted her, always. And I wanted Jane, always. We were already our own little family unit, but I couldn't go another month being terrified Kate was going to come take her from us.

"Does she like Jane?" She asked, her question taking me by surprise. I pulled my cell phone out of my handbag and unlocked it, showing Kate the background image of Imogen, mid excited squeal, in Janes arms.

"She calls her Ma." I told her softly, knowing she needed to hear that Imogen had more than happily settled with us.

"Organise a lawyer and we'll do it." She sighed, smiling softly at me.

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**Janes POV  
**It was 10am before I could no longer find fun things for Imogen to do in the house, so I decided that rather than waiting around for Maura all day; I was going to take Imogen to be around some kids her own age. I wrote her a simple note, placed it on the kitchen counter and drove the toddler somewhere I knew would tire her out

"_Please_ be good." I quietly begged Imogen as we walked into the huge indoor playground for toddlers. I looked around and noted that almost all of the other children were on leashes. It seemed completely barbaric at first, but as Imogens hand left mine and she began running as fast as she could towards a slide; it made sense.

"She's so cute." A woman said from beside me, making me jump as I kept my eyes focused on Imogen as she went down the slide without a second of hesitation. How was she so independent already?

"Thank you." I chuckled, not knowing what the appropriate response was to her question. "Jane." I said, tearing my eyes away from Imogen for a moment to offer my hand to the woman with a smile.

"Laura." The red head responded with a sweet smile as she nodded down to her hands holding a baby to her chest. I nodding in understanding, knowing fine well what it's like to have both your hands busy _all _the time.

"Okay now _she _is cute." My voice went up an octave as I placed my hand softly on the babys back, smiling softly at the little girls fast asleep face.

"Is she yours?" Laura asked, nodding toward Imogen who was now sitting amoung other children playing with blocks. I was strangely proud to see her getting along with the other kids so well.

"Yeah… No. Not really, no." She laughed, cocking her head to the left as she tried to make sense of my words.

"It's a _really _long story." I told her, chuckling in response. She pursed her lips as she looked up at me with an expression I would know from a mile away. I had shared that look with Maura so many times before we got together that I had lost count. I felt my face burn red as I cleared my throat. "Is she yours?" I directed her question back at her as I nodded toward the child in her arms.

"Oh god, no." She admitted as she began lightly rubbing the babys back as she giggled. Her laugh sent ripples of shivers down my spine. "I started studying law last year and need all the money I can get." She told me with a sweet smile, looking directly in the direction of Imogen.

"How old are you?!" I exclaimed as I realised that she probably wasn't as close to my age as I had presumed she was

"Harper, be gentle!" She warned as the little girl sitting beside Imogen pushed her lightly. "I just turned 22." She told me as Imogen started making her way back to where we sat.

"Come here." I said with a smile on my face, Imogen wasting no time in running into my waiting arms. I lifted her to sit on my knee, rummaging through the diaper bag to pull out a small packet of animal crackers. She sat happily started to eat them as I continued my conversation. "So you're studying law?" I clarified, getting excited about telling her what I do for a living. I had never been excited to tell _anyone _what I do for a living; not even Maura.

"I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was four. The more I learn though. the more I want to be one of those bad ass detectives I'm always reading about." She laughed, and I felt another ripple of shivers.

"Speaking of badass detectives…" I mused, opening my blazer to reveal my badge. Her eyes widened as she looked from the badge to my face, excitement and disbelief all over her sweet face. "I'm a homicide detective." I told her, watching her eyes light up.

"Oh, you are so going to be my new best friend." I chuckled at her words as her unfaltering eyes softened. She bit down on her bottom lip, another action I knew the meaning behind far too well.

"Do you want to have coffee tomorrow? We can talk about it some more." I offered, catching myself off guard as she nearly began jumping up and down in excitement. "Here." I laughed, sliding my card into her handbag. Imogen started wriggling to get off my lap suddenly, and before I knew it, she was in Mauras arms. "What are you doing here?" I questioned with a slight confused frown.

"I needed to see you two." She said with a sigh as she held Imogen against her. "Are you ready to go?" She asked, shifting her weight between her feet to rock Imogen.

"Make sure you call me." I said, smiling as I turned back to Laura who nodded nervously, shooting Maura a shy smile.

"Make sure you call me?" Maura asked with raised eyebrows. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried not to feel, or appear, guilty.

"She's a law student, I said I'd talk to her about work." I said casually, sighing as I got into the car and waited for Maura to buckle Imogen in.

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**Janes POV  
**"Are you attracted to her?" Maura whispered in the darkness of our bedroom, images of Laura flashing through my head at her quiet words.

"Who?" I asked, deciding that playing dumb was probably my best option at this point. I felt her sigh quietly from beside me and I felt guilt grow in the pits of my chest. "Yes." I admitted, closing my eyes as I waited for the onslaught I was about to receive.

"I'm taking Imogen to see my mother tomorrow." She said, changing the subject completely. I rolled my eyes in the dark, knowing it was her way of deflecting what she was feeling.

"It was just a physical thing." I told her, turning my whole body so my face was inches away from hers. She nodded slowly, and I could just make out that her lips were pursed, hard. I reached out and stroked her cheek, my eyes widening as my fingertips came in contact with a tear. "Wait, what are you doing?" I asked, panic setting in as I sat up and automatically moved to straddle her hips, leaning down and pressing kisses all over her soft face.

"I am so tired." She told me between quiet sobs, and my heart shattered. I could only imagine how exhausted she must have been. She'd been working late lately, and she always insisted on getting up with Imogen in the morning so she could see her face before work. Now her mother was dying and her girlfriend gave her phone number to a woman she's attracted to. What sort of shitty person was I?

"I am so sorry. I am so sorry." I repeated over and over again, trailing kisses up and down her jaw, my lips finally making contact with her warm lips.

"Show me." She whispered against my lips, making my heart flutter in my chest. I knew what she was asking for, and after the week she had, she more than deserved to blow off some steam.

"Deal." I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head, pulling at the hem of her singlet as soon as my shirt was on the floor. "Take all your frustration out on me." I offered, not expecting her to take advantage of my offer. Yet suddenly there I was; flipped onto my back with my arms pinned above my head.

It was going to be a long, _long _night.

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	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Mauras POV  
**"Can you watch Imogen for an hour this morning?" I asked Jane as I scurried around the living room, cleaning as fast as I could while still making sure I kept one eye on the clock. Jane nodded as she continued shoving cereal in her mouth. "Take her to the park." I suggested, annoyed at the fact she had made no effort to move.

"You want me to go right now?" She asked, puzzled as she looked up at me over her spoon. I huffed and placed both my hands on either of my hips and raised my eyebrows at her. "Why?" She pondered, squinting slightly at me as if I was hiding something.

"Because the adoption attorney is going to be here in half an hour and…"

"Well shouldn't I be here for that?" She asked, placing her spoon down in the bowl as she asked me the one question I had been avoiding all morning.

"No, you don't need to be." I said quietly as I placed Imogen on the sofa and went to work on putting her shoes on, hoping that at least this way the second Jane was ready; they could leave. I looked at the little blonde girl sitting in front of me and felt my heart race at the notion that after today; I could be her legal mother. There would be no more long explanations when someone asked if she was my daughter. After today; she would be mine.

"But if we're adopting her…"

"_We _aren't adopting her." I interrupted, looking up at her and seeing the exact moment she realised what I was saying cross her face. She swallowed hard and I knew exactly what she was feeling; because it's what I had been feeling all morning.

"If this is your way of splitting up with me…" She started, looking anywhere but at me as she shifted awkwardly on her feet.

"I'm not." I interjected quickly, not letting the conversation go down a path it did not need to. "Jane we haven't been together that long. We aren't engaged or married and this is my sisters little girl." I pointed out as I walked towards her, taking her hand in mine and giving it a soft squeeze. "I'm going to adopt her alone, and down the track when we've been together longer than a year, we'll talk about you adopting her to." She nodded slowly, and I wondered if my words had helped at all.

"You think I'm going to leave." Was all she seemed to take from what I had just said, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes, already picturing this turning into a fight.

"That is not what I said. It's just a piece of paper I want to get to make sure Kate can't take her from us if she changes…"

"Takes her from _us._ Us, Maura. I care for her as much as you do and…"

"Stop." I said as she began to ramble, placing one of my hands lightly against her chest to silence her. "She is my first priority." I said, turning to look at Imogen as she played quietly on the floor in front of us. "She deserves stability and that's what I am giving her."

"Come on Immy!" Jane said after she cleared her throat, walking toward the almost two year old little girl. "We're going to go play at the park!" Imogens eyes lit up at Janes words, and before I knew it; I was standing alone in my kitchen wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

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**Mauras POV  
**"Do you honestly intend on ignoring me_ all _night?" I asked Jane as I sat Imogen in her high chair at the table, placing a bowl of pasta in front of her, smiling when her hand went straight for the fork rather than for the pasta. "Well I passed the home safety test and we have a court date…"

"_You _have a court date." She corrected me as she harshly placed a plate of food down on the table where I usually sat.

"Do you really not understand why I didn't include you in this?" I asked her, getting more than annoyed with her constant attitude towards my decision.

"We are a couple, Maura. I do understand why you made the choice you did, but for the life of me I do not understand why you didn't talk to me before you made the choice." I sat silently and shifted through the information she had just given me.

"I should have had the discussion with you." I concluded, sighing as I began picking at the kale on my plate, smiling internally at the fact Jane had included it in my salad. "I would like to know why you planned on meeting up with a girl you were attracted to without first speaking to me, since we're on the subtopic."

"We were going to speak about my job." She said through gritted teeth, and my eyes slowly moved to glance at Imogen, wondering if this was a conversation I should be saving for a time when she wasn't two feet away.

"So if I were to meet up with a woman I was attracted to, to talk about my job, you would have no expectations of me telling you about it before hand?"

"I would have told you." She snapped back at me, her voice raising enough to cause Imogen to stop eating at look up at her. Janes face changed quickly, smiling sweetly at the toddler until she continued eating. "I don't want to keep having this conversation."

"We haven't had this conversation once." I pointed out, shoving a fork full of kale into my mouth as I spoke. "The last time we were about to talk about it we ended up having sex all night instead." I recalled, making her roll her eyes at me.

"I was physically attracted to her, and when she laughed I got shivers; but that's it." Jane said, her words crushing into my harder than I had expected them to. "I had no intention of doing anything about those shivers or the attraction because I love you. I want to be here with you and…"

"Can you go stay at your apartment tonight?" I asked her, placing my fork down quietly as my appetite fast disappeared. Knowing she was physically attracted to the woman was one thing, knowing her laugh gave Jane a physical response made me feel sick. She didn't say anything as she stood, grabbed her car keys and left.

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**Janes POV  
**I had slept a grand total of three hours last night, my brain unable to shut off and let me stop thinking about walking out of Mauras home long enough to sleep properly. When I got out of the car at her house, I noted the familiar car in the driveway and felt my stomach drop.

"Maura?" I asked quietly into the house as I opened the door, my eyes widening at the sight of my mother leaning over a suitcase, Imogen on her hip as she did so. "What the hell is going on?" I asked as Maura walked into the living room, stopping in her tracks when she caught sight of me. "Where are you going?" I asked, panic rising in my voice as she placed more of Imogens clothes into a suitcase.

"I have a last minute conference in Texas that I can't not go to." Maura told me, her voice soft as she walked over to me, placing a hand on my arm and leading me into the kitchen. "We will be back in a week, calm down." She added as she placed two fingertips on my pulse point until my heart rate slowed.

"I thought…" I felt the tears fall onto my chest before I was even aware I was crying. "I thought you were…" I couldn't get the words out, completely overcome by the fear that had just struck me.

"I needed space from you last night." She told me, her voice still soft as she spoke. "But I am not leaving you." She added, my heart slowing at her words. She smiled apologetically at me as she pulled me into a warm embrace. I realised it was the first time in days she had really hugged me, it was nearly impossible to let her go.

"Are you sure you want to take Imogen?" I asked, trying to imagine Maura flying with a toddler and all this luggage alone. "I mean, you know I would happily…"

"I don't think I could go a week without seeing her." Maura giggled as she pulled away, leaning on the kitchen counter as she looked over at my mother rocking Imogen on her hip.

"Me either." I admitted as I realised that that's exactly what I was about to have to do.

"It's only a week; we'll be back before you know it." She whispered, leaning forward to press her lips to my cheek. "And when we get back you and I really need to have a discussion about all that's been going on with us."

I knew she was right; and suddenly I was hoping this week would take it's sweet time passing.

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**Janes POV**  
I immersed myself in work, spending close to every waking minute I had to spare at my desk working the case of Mauras mother. There was nothing. No shell casings, no witnesses, so many enemies we had lost count. We had nothing to work with.

"We're obviously missing something." I groaned as I leant back in my chair, stretching my back as I let my mind wander over the case file before me.

"You shouldn't even be working this case." Frost chuckled from across the desk. "If Cavanaugh found out about…"

"If Cavanaugh found out about what?" My boss' voice came from the doorway, my eyes snapping open as I shot at glare at my apologetic partner. "My office, now." He spoke in that strong tone that made you know you were in trouble.

That was it. Fifteen minutes in his office and I was officially off the case and had a wide open rest of the week. I spent most of my time on Mauras couch with my mother cuddling different toys Imogen had left behind, doing anything I could to stop missing them for even an hour.

"Maybe I should ask her to marry me." I thought aloud, my mothers hand grabbing my thigh harshly the second the words left my mouth, an excited look all over her face. "We've been fighting a lot lately." I added, and her excited expression disappeared.

"You don't marry someone because you're fighting a lot." My mother laughed as she pointed out the complete obvious to me.

"I want to do something to show her how serious I am about all this, Ma." I told her, racking my brain for something to indicate I was here for the long haul.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Janes POV  
**"Are you ready?" I called through the house to Maura who was waiting patiently for Imogen and I in the living room. Imogen was standing in front of me in her ballet costume, her long blonde hair pulled into a neat bun on top of her head; I knew Maura was going to freak out.

They had been home for a week, and it had been the most incredible week. We had taken Imogen to the park every morning and every night we had family dinners where Imogen was always the centre of the conversation. We were finding our happiness.

"Extremely." Maura laughed nervously. I held onto one of Imogen's hands and pointed toward the living room, where she happily let me walk her holding her hand the entire time. "What…" Maura sat with wide eyes, her brow creasing as she looked down at the little girl before her. Imogen was wearing a supple pale pink tutu with a black leotard underneath. I didn't bother to mention how long it took me to get her into the leotard.

"We are taking her to dance class today." I smiled, proud of the fact I had managed to not only keep something secret from Maura, but that I was able to pull it off without anyone else ruining it for us. Maura stood up and made her way past Imogen to wrap her arms around my middle, pulling my body impossibly close to her own. I was surprised at her reaction, expecting more of an excited giggle than a quiet hug.

"Thank you." She whispered, her lips moving against my neck and sending shivers down my entire body. I think she knew that it would never be my idea to take Imogen to dance class; but I knew it would matter to her. I knew how happy it would make her, so I was more than willing to go along to dance practice and recitals every weekend if it meant seeing Maura this happy.

"Are you ready, nugget?" I asked Imogen who was twirling and staring down in amazement at the way her tutu moved with her body. Maura pursed her lips and let one of her arms go around my waist, both of us standing in complete awe of how beautiful she was.

Then out of nowhere, Imogen dropped to the floor, her eyes wide and fast blinking as she looked around and tried to comprehend why she was suddenly on the floor. She looked up at Maura whose worried expression set her off, tears and screams filling the living room.

"Baby." I chuckled as I walked toward her, her arms extending toward me the closer I got. I lifted her into my arms but refused to let her hide her face and be upset. "We're going to go to dance!" I told her in a voice so high with excitement it made me flinch. I bounced her around on my hip and looked to Maura for help.

"Oh. Right. Yes! Yay! Dance!" Maura exclaimed, jumping toward us and shaking her hips enough to make Imogen's cries turn to laughter.

"Mommy!" Imogen called, holding her arms out to Maura who kept dancing as she took the little girl from me, twirling and moving her hips with Imogen giggling in her arms the whole time. I leaned against the back of the sofa and watched the scene before me play out, and I felt like I wasn't in my body. This couldn't be my life. I could not be this lucky.

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**Mauras POV  
**"She seemed to really love it, didn't she?" I asked Jane as we drove home after watching Imogen fall flat on her ass so many times we lost count. I had never seen a little girl as happy as I saw Imogen when she was twirling and playing with the other children. "And I think you secretly enjoyed yourself." I teased Jane quietly, poking her side as she drove. Jane checked her mirror to ensure Imogen was still sleeping before she spoke.

"She was so bad it was good." Jane chuckled, covering her mouth as if she couldn't believe the words had just left her mouth.

"She's as uncoordinated as her ma." I joked again, a soft smile coming from Jane as she turned to look at me, extending her free hand to rest my thigh, her thumb tracing small circles as we both bathed in the moment of pure happiness.

"I wonder if she'd be any good at baseball." Jane mused ater a few moments silence, causing me to giggle and shake my head quickly.

"There will be no balls or bats near my little girl until she's at least six." Jane chuckled at my words, but nodded in understanding none the less.

"Have you heard from your father recently?" Jane asked me and my fingers tightening ever so slightly against my thigh told me she was worried she shouldn't be asking.

"He's been trying to contact me, yes." I told her honestly, placing my hand over hers reassuringly. She bit down on her bottom lip slightly, nodding slowly as her eyes glanced to Imogen in the rear view mirror.

"When do you find out if the adoption went through?" She asked, her voice coming across with a slight edge when she spoke. I frowned lightly, lifting her hand and bringing her fingertips to my lips.

"No one is taking her from us, Jane." I had stopped worrying Kate was going to show up and demand he daughter back. It had been too long, surely if it was going to happen; it would have happened _a lot _sooner than this. The fear was still fresh on Janes beautiful face though.

"I love that little idiot." She laughed, sighing loudly as she shook her head, as though she could shake the thoughts right out of her head. If only life were that simple.

"Maybe we should invite them over for a family dinner." I thought aloud, giggling when I noted the shocked look on Janes face. "Oh! We could do a BBQ."

"You want to have a _family _dinner with your mobster father and sister and my cop brother, jail bird brother and goody-goody mother?" I frowned at the obvious nature of her question.

"Shut up, we're doing it. Imogen deserves to have all her family in one room at least _once._" I told her, crossing my arms across my chest to let her know the conversation was over and my word was the last word. She smiled sweetly at me and I knew I had won.

"I'll grab Imogen." She laughed quietly as we got home. I got to work on grabbing our bags and Imogen's new dance bag out of the car when Jane was suddenly walking toward me, her face tight as she began to hand the little sleeping girl to me.

"What…" I started in confusion, dropping the bags I had in my hands to the ground.

"Put her back in the car and go to Frankies place." My heart sank into the bottom of my chest. I didn't hesitate to put Imogen back in her car seat, my hands shaking as I turned back to look at Jane, her hand lingering on her gun holster at her hip.

"What's happening?" I asked her as I climbed into the drivers seat, turning the car on and waiting for a response.

"Someone has been in the house." I looked over the dashboard and into the open house, the paintings Imogen had drawn for me months earlier scattered across the front entrance way.

I didn't look back as I drove away, my eyes constantly darting to make sure Imogen was still with me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Mauras POV  
**"Are you okay?" Frankie asked me, smiling sympathetically as he handed me a cup of instant coffee. I didn't bother complaining or explaining why I didn't drink instant coffee. It wasn't the time; he was just trying to be sweet. I made a mental note to bring it up the next time I saw him though. I nodded silently, taking a deep breath as I let my head fall against the back of his sofa. I knew he was dying to be where the action was.

"Do you mind if I use your phone?" I asked, placing the cup of coffee on the table in front of me. He handed me his cell phone and nodded toward his bedroom. I bit my lip and looked across at Imogen who was _still _sleeping.

"Go, I'll watch her." He said with the same sympathetic smile on his lips, his hand softly squeezing my shoulder as he spoke. I smiled a thank you in his direction as I made my way to his strangely neat bedroom. I made sure to put Frankie's phone on private before I dialled my father's number, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath as it began to ring.

"Doyle." It made me uncomfortable that we answered the phone the _exact _same way.

"Someone broke into our house today." I said simply, biting down on the inside of my mouth as a few moments of silence passed. He knew something.

"Are you both okay?" I rolled my eyes at his question, noting that he had deliberately left Jane out of his question.

"Imogen was fast asleep; Jane was the one who noticed. I barely got out of the car before she sent me to her brothers." I laughed dryly, knowing it would be killing him to know her family was taking care of us, not him. "Do you know anything?" I kept my tone dry and accusing, not letting any of my emotion seep through my words.

"It's just business, I'll sort it out." I laughed at his words, shaking my head as I tried to comprehend what he had just told me.

"Business? Someone breaking into _my _home and ripping down every bit of artwork Imogen had done…" I stopped, my breath catching in my throat as I noted that it was indeed all of Imogen's paintings that were torn up. "Has this got anything to do with Imogen?" The silence on the other end of the phone was more of answer than his words ever could be.

"Come see me and I'll explain."

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**Mauras POV  
**"Hi beautiful girl." Janes quiet voice came from the living room as I placed Frankie's phone on his kitchen counter. I made sure to delete my father's number from the phone before I left the bedroom. Jane was placing light kisses against Imogens forehead. She was just waking up, so I knew this was the perfect time for me to leave so she wouldn't freak out.

"I'm going pick some things up from work." I said as I made a b-line for the door, my hand on my chest as I prayed that for once in my life, my lie would go unnoticed.

"Maura." Janes voice came from behind me as I climbed into my car. I sighed and opened my window, smiling as sweetly at her as I could. "Hives, Maura." I rolled my eyes and groaned, feeling the heat radiating from my chest.

"I'm going to see my father." At the sound of my words, she walked around to the passenger's side of the car and got in, buckling her seatbelt and looking at me with an expression that dared me to argue with her. We were a family now; there was no chance of her letting me go alone.

We drove in silence apart from Jane commenting on the weather and my hair a few times. She was nervous, that much was obvious. As we pulled into my father's driveway I saw her start to fidget beside me.

"Are you here as my girlfriend or as Detective Rizzoli?" I asked her when I turned the car off, turning to face her as I tried to gauge her reaction to my question.

"Who do you want me to be?" She asked quietly, reaching out and taking one of my hands in her own.

"I want you to be here as my partner, so I need you to leave your gun and your badge in the car." Her eyes widened at my words, and I could tell she was trying to decide if it was worth arguing with me about it. She let out a sigh of defeat, unclipping her gun and badge and placing them in the glove box in front of her.

I tried to hold her hand as we walked to the front door, but the closer we got the more I felt her hand pull away from mine. By the time I opened the front door for her, her hand had let go of mine completely. My father's _assistant _walked straight towards us and I noted that he had been standing in front of a particular door. I rolled my eyes as he put his hands up to stop us from continuing.

"He told me to come here; move." I told the man as I pushed past him, opening the door and walking straight into the study, Jane close behind me. My father's eyes zeroed in on Jane and it was obvious he was trying to intimidate her.

"Detective Rizzoli." He said with a thick voice, his eyes darting to mine as he shot me a disapproving look.

"Jane. I'm only here as Jane." She responded with a strong voice, pulling her blazer away from her body to reveal that she wasn't wearing her badge or gun, catching me off guard. I made note to tell her how proud I was of her later.

"Where's Imogen?" He asked, looking back at me as he sat back down behind his desk. I pulled a chair out for Jane, smiling sweetly as I took my place beside her.

"Why was our house broken into?" I asked him, completely surpassing his question. We weren't here to talk family, we were here to talk about why my first truly incredible memory of Jane, Imogen and I was torn apart this afternoon.

"Someone found out that Kate had a child." His phrase was simple, and by the way Jane gave no reaction; she had no idea what this meant for us or for Imogen.

"Anyone who wants to get to him or fish him out; Imogen is the perfect way to do so." I told Jane, turning my whole body to face her as I explained what it meant. Her face dropped as she nodded slowly, leaning across to take one of my hands in her own.

"The fact you and your sister are twins isn't going to help your situation either." My father added with a thick voice. Jane looked at me with more questions plastered all over her beautiful face.

"People know what Kate looks like. They see me on the street with Imogen and they're going to assume I am Kate." Her eyes widened as she took a deep breath, all the puzzle pieces falling into place.

"What do we do? Do we leave Boston for a while?" Jane asked, looking at Paddy as she spoke. I frowned slightly at the fact she was asking his specific opinion rather than mine.

"No. I will deal with it. You'll stay here until I do." I laughed at his words, shaking my head as Jane tightened her grip on my hand.

"Maybe you and Imogen should stay here for a little while." Her voice was quiet as she spoke, and I could tell it was pure fear speaking, not Jane. I shook my head at her, turning to look back at my father now.

"You are not going to dictate how I live my life."

"Maura this is _really_ not the time for you to bring up your daddy issues." Jane said from beside me, her voice still quiet.

"Is Kate here?" I asked, pulling my hand away from Janes lap. He nodded, and a sudden hand on my shoulder made my whole body jump out of my seat. "Jesus Christ, Kate." Jane pursed her lips to stifle a giggle at my reaction.

"Sorry." Kate giggled, placing a hand on Janes shoulder softly, sharing a slight smile before she looked back at me.

"I'm going to bring Imogen over tonight, I'll go home and pack some things and be back tomorrow; is that okay?" I asked, wondering if Imogen would really be able to tell the difference between her biological mother and I. The only real physical difference was our hair colour.

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Mauras POV  
"She really loves cuddles before bed." I instructed Kate as though she had never met Imogen before. I looked across at the toddler who was happily sitting in Janes arms, her head resting against her shoulder. "And we read to her to, studies show that reading to toddlers…"

"Maura." Jane chuckled quietly, swaying slowly from side to side in hopes Imogen would fall asleep before we left. Kate smiled empathetically at me as I sighed and turned my body toward the little girl.

"We'll be back tomorrow, okay?" I told her, pushing a strand of hair away from her sweet face. "Mommy will be back tomorrow." I realised what I had said and noticed Janes eyes dart from my face to Kate, who was standing behind me. Jane looked back to me awkwardly and I opted to not turn around and apologise. I took Imogen from Janes arms and cuddled her against my chest, covering her face in kisses.

"Hi, you." Kate smiled as she reached out to touch Imogen's hand softly. When Imogen didn't pull away, I handed her over. She pulled back from Kates chest slightly to look at her face, and her eyes widened as she looked between the two of us over and over again.

"There are two of us huh?" I giggled, leaning forward to kiss her cheek softly. She must have been so confused. "Promise me you'll read to her." I whispered to Kate who nodded, rolling her eyes as she leant forward and pressed her lips to my cheek. I swallowed hard when she moved away, my whole body stiff from the show of affection my sister had just shown me.

"Bye baby girl." Jane whispered as she covered Imogen's face in kisses before she pulled on my hand lightly, directing me to the front door.

"Maaaaa!" Imogen called suddenly, her eyes on Jane as she reached out for her over Kates shoulder.

"Keep going." Jane instructed me, her hand on my back guiding me to the front door when I turned around to follow Kate who was carrying Imogen into a different room.

"Why the hell did she call out for you and not me?!" I asked suddenly when we had left the house, realising what had just happened. When Jane didn't answer, I looked and found tears streaming down her olive toned face. "Jane!" I giggled as I pulled her into a close hug.

"I love that stupid idiot." She chuckled, burying her face in my neck.

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**Mauras POV  
**"I'm going to call and check on her once more." I said as I let a pair of heels I had in my hands fall into the suitcase that was laying on the floor beside me. Jane chuckled as she grabbed the cell phone from my hands, darting out of the closet and making her way to the other side of the bed. "Jane…" I warned with a smile, knowing this was going to end with one of us begging for mercy.

"Nope." She smiled at me with dark eyes, placing the phone down the front of her pants. I licked my lips and looked her up and down, giggling when I noticed her wide eyes.

"But honey…" I started as I made my way towards her, lifting my shirt and letting it drop onto the floor beside me as I took slow steps toward her. Her eyes moved down my body to rest on my now bare chest before she cleared her throat, taking a step backwards. "Is it hot in here?" I asked with a frown, biting down on my bottom lip as I pushed my shorts down my legs and leaving them behind.

"Maura…" Jane swallowed hard as I got impossibly close, biting down on my bottom lip as I let my face hover inches from hers. I popped the button on her jeans, her eyes drifting closed as my lips kissed softly against her pulse point. I pulled the zip of her jeans down and let myself moan into her ear.

"Thank you." I whispered, biting down on her earlobe as I took the phone from her pants. I smiled smugly as I walked away, phone in my hands. I was proud of my actions until she was behind me suddenly, pushing my whole body against the bedroom wall. I let out a quiet whimper as she pressed a kiss to my shoulder blade.

"That was _not _very nice, doctor Isles." She whispered from behind me, using her foot to push my legs apart, my face resting against the cold wallpaper as she did so. Her fingers trailed down my side, before they found my lace underwear. She moaned quietly in my ear in the same way I had moments earlier as she traced two fingers along the wetness that was fast growing underneath the lace.

I didn't even notice her taking the phone from my hand until she laughed loudly, her hips pushing against mine until my whole body hit the wall and her body was suddenly gone.

I turned around and frowned at her, noting the phone she was holding proudly in her hand. It didn't matter anymore. I walked toward her and pushed her backwards until she fell onto the bed, the phone flying across the room somewhere as I straddled her hips, my lips pushing against hers with so much force I thought we'd melt into one person.

"You think you're pretty clever huh?" I asked her with a giggle as she pulled her jeans off her body. Before I knew it, both our underwear had been removed and her hips were moving rhythmically against mine. There was so much wetness between us, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if we left a stain on the blanket.


End file.
